The success of HRVHS’s winter sports continued as the Eagles Ski Team took home the state championship last weekend at Mt. Hood Meadows, along with a bevy of top place finishes and outstanding performances.
The events and scoring were standard setup: boys and girls raced independently in slalom and giant slalom, with each athlete performing two runs. The times of the top three athletes from both runs were then summed into two team runs, which determined individual team placement. At the end of all events, the boys and girls team runs were added together for a combined team result, which determined the overall team state champion. Due to the connection of all the events, reports will be in order so as to best illustrate the process, beginning with boys and slalom.
In the boys slalom, the highest Eagle finishers were seniors Nash Levy in seventh, Chris McElwee in 13th and Ezra Johnsen in 24th. The same three finished ninth, 15th and 33rd in the giant slalom race, in the same order. Their combined times placed Hood River in third for the slalom race and fifth for the giant slalom. For the individual combined placements, where each boy’s best slalom and giant slalom time are combined, Levy took sixth followed by McElwee in 11th, Johnsen in 21st and freshman Aidan Gonzalez in 33rd. The HRV boys team finished fourth overall with a total time of 11:32.00.
On the girls side, senior Josie Petersen had an incredible day, placing first in the slalom. She was followed by her teammates, senior Erica Anderson in fourth, senior Paris Nunn in 20th, freshman Marisa Rigert in 21st and junior Eva Jones in 29th. In the giant slalom Petersen led the Eagles again by finishing third, with Nunn following in 11th, Rigert in 24th and freshman Julia Olsen in 26th. For the combined team runs, the Eagles placed first in the slalom and third in the giant slalom. The individual combined placements saw Petersen taking second, Nunn taking 11th and Rigert taking 17th. The HRV girls finished first as a team overall with a total time of 11:37.83.
After all that had taken place, the combined team results for boys and girls came in. It was a close battle between Hood River and Summit High, with only a single second difference between each team’s overall time. In the end, Hood River combined for a time of 23:09.83 while Summit recorded 23:11.08, giving the Eagles the state championship.
While winning the state championship is always an incredible accomplishment and difficult feat, the Eagles have been building to such a performance all season long. Their placements throughout the winter, both individually and as a team, have indicated great strength and depth in their athletes; it was simply a matter of rising to the challenge, which it’s plain to see they did.
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