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De Vré-Heffern, Incline girls win skiing state championship

 

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — Rosemary de Vré-Heffern’s skis vanished after Day 1 of the high school state finals.

Incline’s Rosemary de Vré-Heffern speeds down the slopes earlier this season. Provided / <a href="https://www.lefrakphotography.com&quot; id="link-323b3c8f1cbc2e2e18dc32835f14a2d6" target="_self">LeFrak Photography</a>

Those skis had helped the Incline junior carve down a slow, sticky slalom course at Alpine Meadows, the second fastest out of 50 competitors on Wednesday, Feb. 10, in the 2021 Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association Northern Region State Championships.

“They were just gone,” de Vré-Heffern said.



With a day left of competition, she and her parents had little choice but to get new skis. They went straight to a retailer and got set up with new gear and fresh, apparently super fast, wax.

The next day on her new skis, de Vré-Heffern crushed everybody in giant slalom. She recorded the quickest time on each of the two runs to claim first place and lead the Highlanders to the state championship in that event.



“I went down that first run and didn’t know where I finished,” she said. “When I got to the top Coach (Gordan) Meyer told me I was in first place. That second run was something else.”

De Vré-Heffern went first on the second run and buried the field with an untouchable total time of 1 minute, 4.62 seconds (32.94-31.68). The winning feeling was enhanced because the Highlanders knocked off their rival North Tahoe and sent its outgoing principal away with a skiing championship.

“For the past few years North Tahoe got both awards (for slalom and GS), so it was nice to beat them and also send our principal, Mr. (Andrew) Yoxsimer, out on a winning note. I’m so proud we were able to do that,” de Vré-Heffern said. “I can’t thank my parents, coaches, Alpine Meadows, Start Haus and my Uncle Raymond enough.”

De Vré-Heffern finished the season tied for the most overall points with North Tahoe’s Kacey Benjamin, who won the slalom the day before.

Paloma Nolan-Bowers rips down a slalom course earlier this season. Provided / <a href="https://www.lefrakphotography.com&quot; id="link-c58b47aba75de12b7dd81d798461d98b" target="_self">Lefrak Photography</a>

The Highlanders had four girls finish in the top six in the GS standings. Paloma Nolan-Bowers finished third about 1.5 seconds behind De Vré-Heffern, freshman Emmie Larson was fifth and Whitney Kiesel earned sixth out of 46 competitors.

Incline finished with 213 points, just ahead of North Tahoe who finished with 201, Truckee had 181 and South Tahoe was fourth at 161.

The Incline Highlander girls celebrate after winning the state championship in giant slalom. <em id="emphasis-bc8dff9ec8d9c16700f80022b68b8c89">Provided</em>

Mylie Blanchard led South Tahoe with an eighth place finish (1:08.74) and Annie Ferguson was 12th.

During the slalom event on the first day, aside from De Vré-Heffern’s second place finish, Nolan-Bowers was seventh, Larson was 11th and Kayla Green was 19th.

South Tahoe’s Mylie Blanchard led the Lady Vikings at the state championships. Provided / <a href="https://www.lefrakphotography.com&quot; id="link-6d013794b38639c251c7d62a0a8ba87a" target="_self">Lefrak Photography</a>

Incline finished in third with 190 points, behind North Tahoe (211) and Truckee (196).

South Tahoe finished fourth with 145 points and was led by Blanchard in 15th place, Ferguson got 16th and Anna Lyle was 18th.

Incline’s Otto Albrecht won the state championship Wednesday, Feb. 10, in slalom at Alpine Meadows. Provided / <a href="https://www.lefrakphotography.com&quot; id="link-81dbb4c9aa08434bf82561fd9fe074db" target="_self">Lefrak Photography</a>

Incline’s Albrecht wins slalom, South Tahoe earns 2nd

The Incline boys didn’t have a full team, but the three who competed had lots of speed.

Otto Albrecht was fast out of the gate on Day 1, sped down the slalom and cruised to victory and a state championship by nearly 2 seconds with a total time of 1:17.85. He was the fastest on each of the two runs.

Albrecht teamed with Colton Murphy (13th) and Shane Green (24th) to finish fourth as a team.

South Tahoe had a pair of top 10 finishers on its way to a second place finish.

Forrest Jones finished in eighth and Nolan Langlois earned ninth to lead the Vikings. Derek Bushrow finished 12th and Peter Anthony was 15th out of 34 racers.

South Tahoe finished second the next day in GS and was again led by Jones who finished 11th.

Also for the Vikings, Anthony was 17th, Ethan Barichievich was 18th and Mark Allen was 19th out of 43 competitors.

Whittell’s Aidan Rippett finished 11th to lead the Warriors.


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