Alpine team races in championships

The Sister High School Alpine Ski Team raced in the two-day Oregon School Ski Association (OSSA) championship races at Mt. Bachelor March 1-2. More than 80 racers from seven Central Oregon high schools raced in the OSSA championships.

The Outlaws boys and girls teams began with a giant slalom race on the Cliffhanger run at Mt. Bachelor, which received 13 inches of fresh snow overnight. Despite the Wednesday night storm and heavy snowfall, the course conditions were better than expected.

Dillon Witt led the Outlaws boys team with an excellent 12th-place finish for the day, his best giant slalom finish of the season. Kyle Wattenburg finished 23rd and Wade Pratt took 29th. For the Outlaws girls, Laurel Earhart had two solid runs for a 24th-place finish.

The Bend High boys and girls teams topped the team standings for the giant slalom race, with the Outlaws boys taking fourth place after Summit and Redmond.

On Friday, the Outlaws tackled a tough slalom course, again on the Cliffhanger run. The fresh, soft snow made for a challenging course with deep troughs by the end of the day. However the sunny weather made it enjoyable for racers and volunteers.

For the Outlaws boys, Dillon Witt finished with a strong 12th-place finish in his second run for the 14th best overall time for the day. Kyle Wattenburg also improved in his second run to finish 18th overall. Freshman skier Wade Pratt finished 31st. Meghan Connelly led the Outlaws girls with a 27th-place finish.

The Bend High boys and girls captured the team victory for the slalom event, followed by Summit and Redmond. The Sisters boys, without Drew Corrigan and Yasha Saldi, out with a broken thumb, took fourth place.

At the OSSA conference awards ceremony, Dillon Witt received conference honors with 12th place for slalom and 15th overall for the season.

"Dillon and Kyle pushed each other all season and both really built a positive, competitive atmosphere for the team," said Coach Greg Ausman. "I am proud of the entire team and the exciting growth in abilities of all of our skiers. For a young team, I am really happy with our fourth place in the season standings.

"To me the highlight of the OSSA ski season was seeing all of our skiers bond as a team and making friends with skiers from the other teams and really enjoying their time on and off the slope. Being two of the smaller teams, Sisters and Redmond frequently trained together and always pulled for each other at races. You don't see that with many other high school sports," added Coach Ausman.