Outlaws ski teams most competitive in years

The Outlaws boys and girls ski teams raced in the first slalom race of the season, on Leeway at Mt. Bachelor on Saturday, January 18. Surface conditions were a bit slow due to all the new snow, but overall the course held up well and the race ran smoothly. The boys and girls raced on separate courses and got in two runs each.

The boys team had their best team finish in years, and came in third just behind Mtn. View and Bend High. Evan Palmer finished third and scored 100 points for the Outlaws. Bela Chladek finished eighth (65 points), Corbin Fredland 14th (31 points), George Chladek got 10th on his first run for 26 points, but straddled a gate on his second run and was disqualified. Colton Seymour was 16th (21 points), and Simon Rhett got 34th place on his first run, but was disqualified on his second run.

Coach Gabe Chladek commented on a few of his racers.

“Evan (Palmer) skied technically clean and aggressively and ended up with one of his best scores of his high school career to date” said Chladek. “George’s (Chladek) first run was also very technically clean and fast and scored quite a few points for it. The two varsity freshman boys, Bela (Chladek) and Corbin (Fredland), pushed themselves very hard and scrapped together some fast runs.

“It’s super-exciting to see the boys varsity team score so well,” said Coach Chladek. “They were only three seconds away from second place!”

The girls varsity team finished fifth ahead of Marist. The girls finish order was as follows: Hollie Lewis 15th (26 points), Sydney Wilkes 21st (16 points), Skylar Wilkens 24th (eight points), Piper Adelt 27th (one point). Tatem Cramer crashed on her first run, but came in 51st on her second. Annie Cohen, in her very first high school race, disqualified on her first run and came back with a solid second run for 55th.

“Hollie skied very directly on the gate and managed to score a couple very good times,” said Chladek. “Hollie’s run was supported by Skylar, Sydney, and Piper, all finishing runs in the top 30.”

The JV boys finished fourth overall behind the three Bend schools. Their finish order follows: Oscar Rhett 42nd, Ethan Eckert 49th, Connor Petke 52nd, Ashton King 55th, Aiden Eckert 58th, Ilya Goheen 65th. Ian Cash came in 60th on his first run, and didn’t finish his second run. Vicente Rebolledo was 66th on his first run and didn’t finish his second.

“All three of the Sisters teams are proving to be very competitive this year,” said Chladek. “It’s really cool to see all the racers improving and changing the way they ski. Much of the team has already made big breakthroughs this season. Overall, I think the Outlaws ski team is going into one of its most competitive seasons in a long time.”