This past weekend’s regular season finales for the HRV ski team ended as their season premieres did: with wins.
Local athletes carried on the decades-old HRV tradition of snowy-slope dominance, with both alpine and freestyle athletes taking the top spots at competitions this past weekend.
Freestyle
It was a small field for the freestyle team’s final competitions of the regular season held last weekend at Meadows, but HRV skiers came out on top nonetheless.
Events started with a rail jam on Friday, which was won by HRV’s Trey Roeseler. He was followed by Myles Taylor (second), Sammy Stevenson (fourth), and Kaden Sponhauer (fifth). Erin Carpenter and Joseph Potter from Sandy rounded out the competition, placing third and sixth, respectively.
Saturday’s competition featured a halfpipe event, which was also won by Roeseler. Finishing behind Roeseler were Stevenson, Carter Rigert, and Evan Blaine. Potter, of Sandy, completed the field in fifth place.
The season for freestyle will draw to a close this weekend at Mt. Hood Meadows, where athletes will compete in competitions Friday through Saturday. The halfpipe competition was scheduled for Friday at 4:30 p.m., followed by slopestyle on Saturday at 11 a.m., and finishing off with the rail jam at 3:30 p.m.
Alpine
The alpine squad had won every event leading up to Saturday’s competitions, and HRV remained perfect through the weekend, with both the boys and girls taking first place in the giant slalom held at Mt. Hood Meadows.
Montana Kurahara did not race this weekend and in his absence, HRV associate team member Colin Howe, who attends Columbia High, took first place with a combined run time of 1 minute, 36 seconds. Howe was closely followed by HRV’s Charles Sutherland (second, 1:37.85), and Rigert (third, 1:38.31).
Also racing for HRV were William Lamer (fifth, 1:39.95), Oskar Anderson (sixth, 1:43.40), Christopher McElwee (10th, 1:45.11), and Nash Levy (11th, 1:46.51). As a team, the boys placed first, beating out The Dalles, Cleveland, Sandy, and Grant, remaining undefeated in Mt. Hood League competition.
Though an HRV athlete did not occupy the top individual spot, as a team, the girls also took first place, defeating St. Mary’s Academy, Cleveland, Sandy, and The Dalles.
Finishing first for HRV was Josie Petersen, who finished second overall with a time of 1:39.38, followed by Claire Davies (third, 1:40.53) and Erin Sutherland (fourth, 1:41.15).
Also racing for HRV was Paris Nunn (ninth, 1:48.41), Jesse Nunn (10th, 1:48.43), and Sarah Hall (12th, 1:50.37), as well as associate team members Danielle Bracy (Centennial, fifth, 1:44.77), and Mattea Schwab (Horizon, eighth, 1:48.21).
HRV Alpine Head Coach Scott Keillor announced earlier this week the names of the skiers who will be representing HRV at the Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing (OISRA) championships at Mt. Ashland March 2-4. Keillor said these athletes were “selected as the best and fastest team in order to optimize our chances for defending our state champs status.”
For the girls, Petersen, Sutherland, Hall, Paris Nunn, and Davies will compete in the slalom competition, and will feature Nicolette Paulus as an alternate. Petersen, Sutherland, Davies, and Paris Nunn will also represent the team in the giant slalom, along with Jesse Nunn. Hall will serve as alternate. Associate team members Schwab and Bracy were also invited.
On the boys team, Kurahara, Lamer, Sutherland, McElwee, and Rigert will race in the slalom event, with Colson Zack as alternate. For giant slalom. Kurahara, Lamer, Sutherland, McElwee, and Rigert will represent HRV, along with Anderson in the alternate slot. Associate team member Howe has also been invited.
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