Teets earns top ski honors; HRV second as a team

Teets finished second in the March 7 girls giant slalom competition and won the March 8 slalom title; her combined times in the two races earned her the overall championship and led HRV to second behind host Summit. (The Storm boys team was third.)

The Hood River girls finished third behind Sandy and Grant in Mt. Hood Ski League racing this past season, when Teets was the top individual point scorer, winning the four (of five) races she entered. She duplicated that performance last week at state where she was second in giant slalom to Central Catholic’s Hannah Currier. Currier’s two runs were 33.75 seconds and 32.02 compared to the runs of 33.85 and 33.74 by Teets.

Teets won the March 8 slalom competition with runs of 43.38 seconds and 44.45 for a combined total of 1:27.83. Opal Tracy of team champion Summit was second in 1:28.47. Eliotte Walsh finished 11th for HRV in slalom with runs of 48.69 and 45.94 (1:34.63).

Currier’s first slalom run of 1:02.58 put her out of the individual combined championship competition and opened the door for Teets. Currier had the fastest second run in slalom of 42.31 seconds. She would finish 32nd in giant slalom and 14th overall.

Hood River’s girls were fourth as a team after the March 7 giant slalom competition, trailing Central Catholic, Lakeridge, and Summit. The Eagles made their team move during the March 8 slalom races, where HRV overtook Central Catholic and Lakeridge but could not eclipse Summit.

In giant slalom, Zoe Mortensen of HRV was 31st with runs of 38.98 and 38.45; teammate Eliotte Walsh was 36th with runs of 39.58 and 38.40; Anneliese Richardson was 71st with runs of 48.06 and 44.75, and Shelby See was 73rd with runs of 41.46 and 52.52.

On the second day, in slalom competition, Hood River’s Mortensen was 22nd overall with runs of 50.14 seconds and 47.04 for a combined 1:37.18; Makena Bennett was 55th with runs of 1:00.30 and 1:02.40; and Richardson was 64th with runs of 1:03.36 and 1:11.95.

Kailee Klindt of The Dalles had the 44th best slalom first run of 54.99 seconds, but she did not complete her second run. Her teammate, Kaiya Doty, was 46th in giant slalom with runs of 40.91 and 41.30.

Leading the Hood River boys at state were Lars and Thorsen Welch. Lars was third in slalom racing, ninth in giant slalom, and fourth overall individually. Lars Welch had slalom runs of 40.44 and 43.13, and giant slalom runs of 36.53 and 33.65. Thorsen was eighth in slalom with runs of 42.68 and 42.83, fourth in giant slalom, and placed fifth overall individually. Thorsen’s giant slalom runs were 35.81 and 32.57.

Teamwise, HRV was fourth in slalom on March 7 and sixth in giant slalom on March 8. In slalom competition, Jess Aubert completed the Eagle team score with his 45th-place finish (runs of 50.13 and 54.45). Also for the Eagles, Jaden Johnson was 60th (55.75 and 57.05) and Ricardo Miller had one run of 1:03.59. In giant slalom, Aubert was 59th (42.36 and 39.27), Johnson was 65th (42.15 and 39.84), and Miller was 96th (46.69 and 45.12).

Hood River’s Lars Welch was the top individual point scorer during the five-race, regular Mt. Hood season and teammate Thorsen Welch was third. HRV’s Ricardo Miller was ninth in season scoring and Eagle Jaden Johnson was 12th. Lars Welch won all three league slalom races and was third in the two giant slalom races. Thorsen Welch won the two giant slalom events.

The Dalles boys were represented at state by Cooper Klindt and Henry Perez. Klindt, who was eighth in individual racing during the league season, was 38th at state in slalom with runs of 49.14 seconds and 51.71. Perez had one complete run at state in the March 8 giant slalom of 47.02 seconds.

Trout Lake’s Rowan Shuman, who finished second in the boys individual league rankings, was 18th at state in slalom competition with runs of 44.19 and 45.45.

Lincoln of Portland, led by individual champion Lucas Garcia, was the boys combined team champion.