The Hood River Valley boys snowboarding team took first place overall at the Oregon Interscholastic Snowboarding Association (OISA) on March 1-2. Head coach Peter Lawson said he was incredibly proud of his team after they took home Hood River’s sixth state championship. Landon Edholm and Sylas LeBreton- Smith earned first and third place, respectively, in the boys boardercross event.
Above, Sylas LeBreton-Smith (08) navigates a jump in the boys boadercross
event at the OISA state championships on March 14-15 at Mt. Hood Meadows.
Ryan LeBreton photo
Deigo Paredes and Landon Edholm race down the mountain in the boys boardercross event.
Ryan LeBreton photo
Ryan LeBreton photo
The Hood River Valley snowboard team won their sixth state championship in seven years and are coached by Peter Lawson.
Contributed photo
The Hood River Valley boys snowboarding team took first place overall at the Oregon Interscholastic Snowboarding Association (OISA) on March 1-2. Head coach Peter Lawson said he was incredibly proud of his team after they took home Hood River’s sixth state championship. Landon Edholm and Sylas LeBreton- Smith earned first and third place, respectively, in the boys boardercross event.
HOOD RIVER — On March 14-15, the Hood River Valley boys snowboard team captured their sixth state championship in seven years — no state champion was recognized in 2021 due to COVID. Boys and girls competed in the Oregon Interscholastic Snowboard Association (OISA) state championships held at Mt. Hood Meadows in four disciplines: halfpipe, slopestyle, boardercross and banked slalom. The Eagles are coached by Peter Lawson. Lawson also teaches in the community works program at Hood River Valley High School. Assistant coaches and volunteers include Ariel Diehl, Lisa Kosglow, Christian McQuade and others. Lawson reflected on the season and spoke to Hood River’s dominance in the sport.
“We have two nights of practice [a week]. Our riders live snowboarding. It’s not something they feel like they’ve got to do. It’s something they love to do,” Lawson said. And with the help of the Columbia Area Transit and Mt. Hood Meadows, many athletes have been able to get more practice.
“After COVID, we didn’t have a school bus for our snowboard or ski teams. A collaboration between [the team,] Mount Hood meadows and CAT bus, we were able to pitch in to start that night bus,” Lawson explained.
The OISA holds events from January through March and Hood River is a member of the Gorge League, which also includes teams from Sandy, Sherwood, Tigard, Tualatin High School and the Westside Riders Association.
Boardercross results
On the afternoon of March 14, freshman Emilia Greenwood finished fourth in the girls boardercross event behind Carlotta D’Onofrio (Ida B. Wells High), Coco Leritz (Central Catholic) and Andie Malkus (St. Mary’s Academy). Boardercross features riders going head-to-head down a course of jumps, berms and more to the finish line.
In the semifinal first heat, Greenwood beat Malkus, and together, they qualified for the finals.
“Emilia emerged as a leader and as a force to reckoned with,” Lawson said.
Junior Diego Paredes — who recently relocated to Hood River from Wenatchee — won the boys boardercross event.
“I had never seen him ride. And then he was first and second place in every event,” Lawson said. “He is a natural athlete.”
He was joined by junior classmate, Landon Edholm in the top-four. Ashland High’s Bodhi Wier and Grant High’s Eliyot Knibbe finished second and third, respectively. Edholm was fourth in the final, finished top of his group in his semifinal heat, and earned high praise from his coach.
“Landon is just an incredibly talented snowboarder,” Lawson said. “He has this air awareness that is next level.”
Slopestyle results
Edholm took home top honors in the boys slopestlye discipline finishing in first place with a score of 89.50 — 12 more than second place. Paredes placed fifth and scored 63.75 points. Finnegan was 22nd and Sylas LeBreton-Smith scored 31.50 points.
“Sylas was, I think, our most imporved this season,” said Lawson. “There’s a big shift from going from free riding for yourself to actually being in a competitive environment. It can be pretty intense and Sylas really stepped up this season.”
Judah Mann added a score of 18.
Banked slalom results
Earlier in the week on Wednesday, the banked slalom race timed athletes who traversed a course of banked turns.
Greenwood again earned a top-four finish in the girls banked slalom event, finishing in 1 minute, 5.13 seconds — almost two seconds faster than her first run of 1:07.59. Westview High racer Claire Knight won the event with a time of 1:03.57.
The Hood River boys took the top three spots in the banked slalom with Edholm, Parades and McQuade finishing 1-2-3. Edholm’s best run was clocked at 59.12 seconds. Also finishing in under a minute, Paredes finished in 59.83 seconds. Burdock Gerlick ran the course in 1 minute, 4.93 seconds.
Halfpipe results
Hood River’s Greenwood finished third in the girls halfpipe competition. She scored 64 points.
In the boys halfpipe, juniors Landon Edholm and Diego Paredes finished third and fifth, respectively, scoring a combined 128.5 points. Finnegan McQuade scored 55 points in 10th place.
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