Nordic skiers sweep at Willamette Pass

The first road trip of the season was worth the travel as the Outlaws Nordic Ski squad swept the boys' and girls' team titles at Willamette Pass on Saturday, January 13.

The meet featured teams from both the Northern and Southern League of the Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association, and team scores were separated by league.

Sisters' boys had an easy time since the only other Northern League schools in attendance were St. Mary's of Portland, an all-girls' school, and ACMA, a magnet school with no boys out this year, leaving the boys with a clear field.

Kelly Crowther came through as the clear winner, covering the 5,000-meter freestyle course in 13:14. He was followed by Wes Ford (15:08), Kyle Rickards (15:24), Stefan Redfield (15:27), Jacob Evan (15:30), Jeremy Evan (15:47), Lucas Glick (15:57), Parker Bennett (16:27), Nick Rice (17:42), Josh Uttely (18:25), Mike Calavan (18:45), Jack Yinger (18:49), Jake Lasken (19:01), Torrey Piatt (19:23), Andy Thomas (19:34) and Tyler Elson (19:54).

Crowther's time over the course was the third fastest of the day, as Mountain View's top skier Kevin Brown cruised the course in 12:46 and his teammate Byron Riemhofer finished in 13:13 in the Southern League race.

Jena Rickards won by nearly a minute in the Northern League girls' race, in 16:52, over Jacque Lee of ACMA, who was second in 17:48. The other two Outlaws' scorers included Audrey Tehan in third place (17:56), and Erin Kanzig in ninth (20:02). Remaining competitors for Sisters included Sydney Randall (20:55), Mac Gould (21:48), Nicole Thomas (22:26), Julia Rahm (22:35), Janelle Hjelmstad (22:56), Rachel Sims (23:08) and Emily Rickards (33:02).

Molly Blust, normally the team's number-two skier, sat out the meet with a sore hamstring.

The girls secured the team victory by placing first in the three-person relay comprised of Rickards, Tehan, and Kanzig, finishing with 19 points, followed by ACMA (31) and St. Mary's (36). Michelle Spresser of Sheldon had the fastest time of the day in 16:45 as the winner of the Southern League race.

The teams return to Hoodoo Mountain Resort on Saturday, January 20 for a classic race against Northern League opponents.