The Huntsville High School Nordic ski team has had to follow Mother Nature’s lead when it comes to race days and inclement weather, but when they have had the chance to race the team has come home with spectacular results.
At the Midland Phoenix Ski Race, Huntsville took top spots in almost all of the categories. Coach John Cowan says, “A highlight are the high school-trained athletes who are competing against club-trained athletes on the same course and distance and these athletes would be on the podium.”
In the Junior Girls high school category, Emma Dickson took first place with Maddie Arsenault finishing 8th. For the Junior Boys high school category, Ryan Clarke, a second year Junior, took first place with Cole Punchard following behind by 7/100ths of a second and Corbin Wendell placing 4th.
In the club-trained category for the Junior Boys, Zak Varieur, “won the Junior Boys race by a significant margin,” adds Cowan.
Madi Horton, Stella Keay and Maggie Pitts were leading for the Senior Girls, with Madi Horton finishing in second and Stella Keay taking fourth. Sophie Marshall has been storming to the top of the podium in the club-trained category but was not able to race at the Midland event.
Ryan Clarke, a second year Junior high school-trained athlete, took first place in his category. Zak Varieur also took first place by a landslide in the club-trained athlete category.
A first-year Senior, David Laughton, won the gold in the high school-trained athlete category for the boys team with Cam Heinz taking the silver and Aidan McClung earning the bronze. Nolan Parsons placed sixth and Mark Cheek placed 7th. In the club-trained athlete category, Riley deGans won the gold for the Senior Boys.
“The Junior Girls, Junior and Senior Boys teams are a mix of high school-trained and club-trained athletes and we are a competitive program… Unfortunately, we are short by one athlete to complete a Senior Girls team,” said Cowan.
The HHS Nordic ski team was supposed to race in the Mayfield Invitational race at Duntroon on Thursday, February 7 but it was cancelled due to inclement weather. The team continued to practice and then raced at the GBSSA Championships on Thursday, February 14 at Duntroon.
It was another race with stellar results. The Junior Girls ski team qualified with Sophia Marshall, Emma Dickson, Maddie Arsenault, Emily Angell and Grace Gaughan. In the Junior Girls individual category, McKinley Ballantyne earned a berth to OFSAA for the distance events.
The HHS Junior Boys team qualified with Zak Varieur, Ryan Clarke, Cole Punchard, Gavin McPhee and Corbin Wendell. Keenan Paterson has also earned a berth in the distance competition for the Junior Boys individual category.
In the Junior Boys race, Zak Varieur took first in the Open Division and Ryan Clarke captured gold. Their teammate Cole Punchard earned the Silver out of 158 competitors in the high school-trained category. The Junior Boys team finished second behind Collingwood.
The Junior Girls team finished second with Sophia Marshall winning the GBSSA Junior Girl championship in the club-trained or Open Division while Emma Dickson captured the Silver in the Junior Girls high school-trained division. Madeline Horton brought home the Bronze medal in the high school-trained out of 60 participants.
The Senior Girls members Madi Horton, Stella Keay and first year skier Maggie Pitts have all earned a berth into the distance event at OFSAA as Individual skiers.
The HHS Senior Boys are divided into two teams and they both had qualifying scores. The A team consists of Riley de Gans, Dave Laughton, Erik Bertelsen, and Cameron Heinz. The B Team is comprised of Nolan Parsons, Judah Meaker, Aidan McLung, and Kye Kingshott. For the Senior Boys Open category, Riley de Gans won the Gold and Owen Johnstone captured the Bronze, and David Laughton earned Silver in the high school category. The Senior Boys Team also won the team award.
Special Olympian Mark Cheek came home with a first place win also earning himself a berth at OFSAA.
This year OFSAA will be held Feb. 27 to Mar. 1 at Duntroon.
Don’t miss out on Doppler! Sign up for our free newsletter here.
0 Comments