Nordic skiers complete season

Caitlin Schwab and Sam Thorsett represented the Sisters Outlaws Nordic ski program last weekend at the Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association (OISRA) State Championships held February 24-25 at Mt. Bachelor.

The Outlaws were missing other members of the team due to illness.

Teams from throughout Oregon came together for the two-day meet to determine the kings and queens of both freestyle and classic Nordic skiing.

Summit continued its utter dominance of the event, sweeping the team titles once again while producing all of the individual champions as well.

Kicking things off Friday in the freestyle event, Fiona Max of Summit outdueled her sister to win by five seconds in 19:05 over the 6 kilometers (approximately 3.7 miles). Schwab came through in 85th place with a time of 38:07 among 93 finishers.

Thorsett placed 60th with a time of 24:12 among 95 finishers. Thomas Schoderbek of Summit narrowly won the race against teammate Will Lange 16:13.2 to 16:14.2.

In Saturday's classic race, Schwab placed 80th, clocking 27:17 for the 5-kilometer (3.1 miles) course. Fiona Max won again with a time of 14:23, 20 seconds ahead of teammate Liv Downing.

For the boys, Schoderbek easily won the individual title with a time of 12:01, while Thorsett crossed the finish in 20:50 to place 77th among 90 finishers.

Summit's girls won the team title with a perfect score of 18 points, followed by Bend (57), Hood River (100), and Redmond Proficiency Academy (111) rounding out the top four among the nine complete teams.

For the boys, it was Summit as well, also with a near-perfect score of 20. Hood River Valley placed second with 58, followed by Mountain View (83) and South Eugene (92).

A week earlier the team helped host the annual Night Race at Hoodoo Ski Area, which for many, according to Coach Kelly Crowther, is the favorite race of the season.

Nearly constant snowfall during the races did not deter the enthusiasm or performance of the 166 skiers who took part, according to Coach Crowther.

"It was snowing during the race but Hoodoo did a great job grooming before the race so the snow wasn't too soft for the skiers," he said.

Hosting a big meet, especially after sunset, can have its challenges, but Crowther was very pleased with how everything played out.

"The event went very smoothly this year," he said. "We had a new stadium design which helped out the skiers for starting the race. This is one of the best spectator races since you can see the majority of the race from the Hoodoo lodge. We had the help of a lot of great volunteers from Sisters High School ski team and the Corvallis High team."

As for the race itself, Outlaws skiers Engracia Diez and Tate Ricker skied together during the race posting good results on a tough, hilly course, finishing mid-pack in 19:40 and 20:04 respectively. Caitlin Schwab crossed the line in 23:44, while Sam Thorsett raced well in a competitive boys' division, finishing in 14:06 to place in the upper half of the field, according to Crowther.

Crowther was particularly grateful for the support of Sporthill, an active-wear clothing company based in Eugene, for its sponsorship of OISRA events, including the Hoodoo Night Meet and the state meet.

"And we couldn't do any of this without the support of Hoodoo," he said.

With another season completed, Crowther looks to the return of his current skiers and hopes to build up the team numbers for next year.

"The improvement from the start of the season to the end is amazing," he said.