Sisters skier is slalom champion

Outlaws skier Bela Chladek is the state champion slalom skier.

Chladek’s outstanding performance in the High School State Championship Alpine Ski Race at Mt. Hood Meadows led an astonishing Outlaws run that put the boys team in second place for the slalom — a second away from the top of the podium.

The Outlaws skiers raced at Mt. Hood Meadows on Thursday and Friday, March 3-4. On Thursday, the girls raced giant slalom and the boys raced slalom. On Friday, they switched events.

In Thursday’s action, the boys raced on softening course conditions on the first slalom run, which led to a number of crashes and disqualifications. Run two hardened up as temperatures dropped, which produced faster racing conditions. The level of competition was high and athletes definitely felt the pressure.

The boys turned in an amazing team performance in the slalom event, and took second place. The team was very close to a first-place finish, as they came in barely a second behind Lincoln High School.

Bela Chladek had a great first run and an even better second run to take first place in the slalom event by almost three seconds, which made him the 2022 Oregon high school slalom event state champion.

Chladek is the first athlete from Sisters High School to take first place at a high school ski-racing championship.

“Bela really turned some heads at the top of the slalom course with his second run,” said Coach Gabe Chladek. “It was really fun to watch.”

Corbin Fredland had two very fast runs and finished sixth. Styopa Myagkov and Gus Patton suffered technical difficulties and crashed on their first run, but the boys team score was saved by Emerson Backus, who was able to hold on through the finish and record a necessary third time for the team. Myagkov had a good second run and also contributed nicely to the team score.

On Friday, the giant slalom (GS) course, which came off the top of a run called “Burial,” was challenging and technically demanding. Fredland and Myagkov skied two fast, clean runs and were the top Sisters GS scorers.

Chladek skied the fastest first run for the Outlaws, but crashed on his second run. Duey and Tisdel both stepped up and skied outstanding runs and saved the Sisters team’s GS score putting them in fourth place.

The boys’ combined slalom and giant Slalom score put them in third place overall. Fredland had the high combined score for the Outlaws, which placed him fifth overall.

Coach Chladek said, “Especially noteworthy were the performances of Gus Patton and Spencer Tisdel. They really stepped up and showed amazing perseverance with rough course conditions under the pressure of the state championship competition.”

The boys brought home two State trophies, a second-place trophy in the slalom and a third-place trophy in the combined. This accomplishment is a very big deal, as the boys had to compete against all the big schools in the state. Skiing, unlike any other high school sport, is not divided by school size.

There have been only four top-three trophies in ski racing for Sisters in the last 20 years; one in the early 2000s, one two years ago when the boys went to Ashland, and now the two this year.

The girls team faced a very challenging giant slalom course on Thursday. The race had several transitions between steeper and flatter pitches, and started and ended on steep slopes. Almost a third of the field didn’t finish the first run, but the majority did fare better on the second run.

Top seed Araiya Grummer finished both runs, and was able to work through the glitches.

Coach Chladek said, “She raced first and finished, but did have an issue with a tricky delay that led into the final pitch. In the second run she raced a rerun because she had to avoid a racer who crashed in front of her.”

Tallis Grummer crashed on her first run and skied a clean second run. Charlotte Seymour and Ella Eby crashed on both runs.

First-year racer Ava Riehle and senior Piper Adelt (racing as a non-scoring alternate) both faced a rutted course as they skied toward the end of the race. They completed clean runs both times. The Outlaws were among six of the 15 teams at State who did not score as a team because at least three racers didn’t finish each run.

Oregon Episcopal School (OES) finished first, St. Mary’s Academy was runner-up, and Lincoln High School took third.

The girls raced much better on Friday in the slalom race, and placed ninth as a team, just behind St. Mary’s Academy. Lakeridge placed first, Central Catholic took second, and Jesuit took third.

Presley Adelt (sophomore) led the Outlaws with a 26th-place finish. Tallis Grummer (freshman) placed 34th, Charlotte Seymour (sophomore) placed 37th, and team captain Piper Adelt (senior) placed 41st in her final high school race. Araiya Grummer (sophomore) skied well on the top part of the slalom course on both runs, but crashed at the end and did not finish either one.

The slalom race was won by Annie Hendrickson of OES.

Two Outlaw racers will continue on and ski in the Western States High School Championships at Mount Rose near Lake Tahoe in California this week. Bela Chladek and Corbin Fredland will be on a team of 12 high school athletes representing the Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association on Thursday and Friday, March 10-11.