Boys ski team grabs second place

The Sisters High School boys varsity ski team placed second in a giant slalom race at Hoodoo on Saturday, February 22. It was sunny and calm, and snow conditions were hard and fast, which made for one of the best races of the season. The steep hill at Hoodoo and the course set-up provided a challenge for racers.

This was the first high school race to be held at Hoodoo in several years. Coach Gabe Chladek told The Nugget they put on a great race and many folks were impressed. Teams wanted to express their thanks to Hoodoo for hosting the race, and hope there will be more races there in the future.

Sisters had a bit of a home court advantage since they were familiar with the slope, and it showed up in their second-place team finish.

Senior Evan Palmer was the Outlaws’ fastest racer. He placed fifth and earned 90 points for the team with a combined time of 1:16.93. Freshman Bela Chladek took eighth and earned 72 points with a combined time of 1:17.66.

“Evan and Bela skied fast, direct lines that resulted in great finishes,” said Coach Chladek. “They’re both skiing with a lot of determination, and it’s driving them to be aggressive and direct in their skiing.”

Corbin Fredland was 13th with 38 points with a combined time of 1:20.48, and George Chladek took 16th and earned 26 points with a combined time of 1:21.17. Colton Seymour was 17th (26 points) with a combined time of 1:21.53, and Mitchell Griffin took 31st with a combined time of 1:27.39.

The boys JV team finished fourth overall. Christopher Lundgren logged the fastest runs of the day for the JV squad with a combined time of 1:27.70 for a 32nd-place finish. Remaining times were: Simon Rhett, 1:28.05 (34th); Connor Petke, 1:31.36 (43rd); Oscar Rhett, 1:37.13 (51st); Ethan Eckert, 1:40.71 (54th); Ian Cash, 1:43.03 (57th); Ashton King, 1:52.16 (60th); and Ilya Goheen, 1:54.11 (61st). Aiden Eckert skied a good first run and got a single time of 49.63. Aiden pushed for a faster time on his second run and crashed.

Chladek said, “I have a lot of respect as a coach for the effort Aiden put out on the course. You can’t win races unless you’re pushing yourself to go faster, and when you’re pushing, crashes are going to happen from time to time.”

The varsity boys and girls teams, and a few JV racers, will be attending the league finals on Friday and Saturday, February 28 and 29 at Mt. Bachelor. Over the course of the season teams earn points for their finish order at each race, and points accumulate throughout the season. Both the girls and boys squads qualified as a team. Hollie Lewis, Skylar Wilkins, Sydney Wilkins, Piper Adelt, Tatum Cramer, and Annie Cohen make up the girls squad, and racing for the boys will be Evan Palmer, Bela and George Chladek, Cole Seymour, Corbin Fredland, and Mitchell Griffin.

The top 20 JV racers will qualify individually based on their accumulated points. Those 20 JV racers were to be announced on Tuesday, February 25.