Sisters skiers struggle to make cut

With half of the regular season complete and only three races remaining, the Sisters High School Alpine Racers continue to struggle for an invitation to the State Championship.

The short-handed team performed well in Saturday’s race, but the girls found themselves in third place for the second consecutive week. They slipped to third overall, two points behind the second-place Summit High School girls.

The Outlaws had outstanding individual performances.

Sisters star Liz Dale blistered the field again, finishing nearly two full seconds ahead of the other girl racers. However, with three varsity girls absent, the team time fell short of the second-place finish needed to maintain a lead over the Summit team.

Dale’s teammate Joelle Hamilton finished 10th, breaking into the top 10 for the first time, and Nicole Veloso also had a career-best 15th place finish. Bethany Bachman completed the Sisters roster in 25th.

“We really had a banner day,” said Coach Todd Williver. “The girls that were here all performed as well or better than usual. We were just missing too many racers to have the team time we needed.”

Summit’s Lauren Huestis finished in second place followed by Bend High’s Devon Engle. Bend High School took top team honors 11 seconds ahead of the Summit team.

The boys also slipped due to a smaller-than-normal roster. With two varsity boys missing for a prior scheduled high school band appearance, the remaining boys could only muster a fourth place finish.

With two thirds and a fourth the boys still have a slim hold on third overall, two points ahead of Mountain View High School. Summit High School has a firm hold on second, eight points ahead of Sisters, and Bend High School sits in first with a six-point lead.

In Saturday’s race, Sisters’ Michael Cristiano finished in 12th place overall, followed by Dominick Deleone and Davis Rapp in 25th and 26th respectively. Jake Thomas fell in the first run and didn’t start the second run due to a back strain.

“It was a disappointing day,” according to Coach Williver. “We really skied well, but lack depth to get it done. We have some work left to do if our teams are going to get to the state race.”

With three races left the girls team will have to ski better than the Summit team twice to have a chance to regain the place spot. The boys have a larger battle, needing a couple of first place finishes to catch the Summit boys team.

The State Championship is to be held March 1-3 at Mt. Hood’s Ski Bowl.