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The Vikings had six skiers among the top nine finishers, including first-place winner Mike Suglian, as they placed first as a team in a Tahoe Basin Ski League race on Monday at Alpine Meadows.
Suglian’s two-race time of 51.66 seconds in the giant slalom was a fraction of a second better than teammate Derek Holmgren, who finished second on a race course that featured firm conditions.
“It’s good because there’s always a competitiveness there (between all of us),” said Holmgren, who won an individual state title last year. “If you weren’t tuned and your edges weren’t sharp, you were pretty screwed today. It helps that we have lots of kids who are racers, and they know how to handle a course like that.”
Luca Genasci finished fourth, while Italian exchange student Gianpietro Boffelli was sixth and Kyle Smaine seventh to round out South Tahoe’s top five skiers. The Vikings, who won the state team title last year, had three other skiers in the top 16.
“We have four guys on JV that would start for me in any other season,” said STHS coach Mike Shreve, whose team is the defending state champions. “We took first through fourth in the JV race, and the top JV skier would’ve finished 17th in the varsity race. It’s a nice problem to have.”
South Tahoe finished with a total of 183 points. Truckee was second with 156 points, followed by North Tahoe (150 points), Whittell (110) and Douglas (109). The top finishers for the Warriors were Matt Schorr, who placed 17th, and Adam Laub, who was 19th.
The South Tahoe girls, meanwhile, took a step backward on Monday by placing third after finishing second last week. Missing two of their top skiers — Joleen Ferguson and Maddie Bowman due to preparation for finals — Ashley Killeen and Kim Smith picked up the slack, placing eighth and 11th, respectively.
Smith battled through a scary moment at the start of the race. Going second on the first run, she crashed during a steep section and veered off the course. She got tangled in the fence bordering the course and slammed into a stump.
She was taken by ski patrol in a sled down to the resort’s base, where she recuperated. During that time, race officials improved the safety of the course by re-routing the gates, and they also decided to start the entire race over. Smith, as it turned out, wasn’t seriously injured and went back to the start gate and proceeded to finish in a two-race time of 57.52 seconds.
“The girls are calling her Kim “Stump” Smith now,” Shreve said. “She’s not moving and is all tangled up in the fish nets. But 30 minutes later, there she was ready to go again.”
The Vikings finished with 141 points, while Truckee won the girls’ race with 174 points and North Tahoe was second with 170.
“North Tahoe flexed their muscle today and showed us what they got,” Shreve said. “The girls are very consistent being in the late teens. But in order to go to state, it’s going to require everybody in the top 10 to the lower teens. We just haven’t had that depth yet, but I am hoping next week we can change that.”
Whittell freshman Whitney Gardner followed up last week’s podium performance in her varsity debut with a fifth-place finish on Monday. Her result helped the Warriors to a fifth-place team finish.
The top two teams from the Tahoe Basin Ski League qualify for next month’s six-team NIAA State Skiing Championships. The top two teams each of the High Desert and Sierra leagues in Nevada also qualify.
South Tahoe hosts next Wednesday’s league race at Sierra-at-Tahoe.
Suglian’s two-race time of 51.66 seconds in the giant slalom was a fraction of a second better than teammate Derek Holmgren, who finished second on a race course that featured firm conditions.
“It’s good because there’s always a competitiveness there (between all of us),” said Holmgren, who won an individual state title last year. “If you weren’t tuned and your edges weren’t sharp, you were pretty screwed today. It helps that we have lots of kids who are racers, and they know how to handle a course like that.”
Luca Genasci finished fourth, while Italian exchange student Gianpietro Boffelli was sixth and Kyle Smaine seventh to round out South Tahoe’s top five skiers. The Vikings, who won the state team title last year, had three other skiers in the top 16.
“We have four guys on JV that would start for me in any other season,” said STHS coach Mike Shreve, whose team is the defending state champions. “We took first through fourth in the JV race, and the top JV skier would’ve finished 17th in the varsity race. It’s a nice problem to have.”
South Tahoe finished with a total of 183 points. Truckee was second with 156 points, followed by North Tahoe (150 points), Whittell (110) and Douglas (109). The top finishers for the Warriors were Matt Schorr, who placed 17th, and Adam Laub, who was 19th.
The South Tahoe girls, meanwhile, took a step backward on Monday by placing third after finishing second last week. Missing two of their top skiers — Joleen Ferguson and Maddie Bowman due to preparation for finals — Ashley Killeen and Kim Smith picked up the slack, placing eighth and 11th, respectively.
Smith battled through a scary moment at the start of the race. Going second on the first run, she crashed during a steep section and veered off the course. She got tangled in the fence bordering the course and slammed into a stump.
She was taken by ski patrol in a sled down to the resort’s base, where she recuperated. During that time, race officials improved the safety of the course by re-routing the gates, and they also decided to start the entire race over. Smith, as it turned out, wasn’t seriously injured and went back to the start gate and proceeded to finish in a two-race time of 57.52 seconds.
“The girls are calling her Kim “Stump” Smith now,” Shreve said. “She’s not moving and is all tangled up in the fish nets. But 30 minutes later, there she was ready to go again.”
The Vikings finished with 141 points, while Truckee won the girls’ race with 174 points and North Tahoe was second with 170.
“North Tahoe flexed their muscle today and showed us what they got,” Shreve said. “The girls are very consistent being in the late teens. But in order to go to state, it’s going to require everybody in the top 10 to the lower teens. We just haven’t had that depth yet, but I am hoping next week we can change that.”
Whittell freshman Whitney Gardner followed up last week’s podium performance in her varsity debut with a fifth-place finish on Monday. Her result helped the Warriors to a fifth-place team finish.
The top two teams from the Tahoe Basin Ski League qualify for next month’s six-team NIAA State Skiing Championships. The top two teams each of the High Desert and Sierra leagues in Nevada also qualify.
South Tahoe hosts next Wednesday’s league race at Sierra-at-Tahoe.
