Bulldogs take a bite out of slopes
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Burr and Burton’s Brandon Ogilivie skis his way to victory in the giant slalom during the Vermont High School Alpine Championships at Pico Ski Resort on Thursday. VYTO STARINSKAS / RUTLAND HERALD |
Toolbox
By Dennis Jensen Staff Writer - Published: March 6, 2009
KILLINGTON — Burr and Burton's Brandon Ogilvie and his Bulldogs teammates are kings of the mountain.
Skiing smoothly, smartly and quickly, Ogilvie took first place in both the giant slalom and the slalom events as Burr and Burton skied way ahead of the competition in the Boys Alpine State Championships at Pico Ski Resort on Thursday.
The Bulldogs led the pack with 62 points after both events, considerably ahead of Essex, which took second place with 128 points. Champlain Valley finished third at 146, followed by Stowe with 161, Woodstock with 164 and Rutland with 177 points.
In the GS, Ogilvie edged CVU's Sam Darling and Dan Caffry, who finished second and third, respectively, while his brother, Chris, took fourth place for the Bulldogs.
Brandon Ogilvie won the GS with a time of 38.24 as the Bulldogs skied to a 1-4-6-18 finish. Darling was clocked at 38.33, Caffry had a run of 38.88, Chris Ogilvie's time was 38.94 and Woodstock's Chuck Harris was fifth at 39.88.
Brandon Ogilvie won by a huge margin after two runs of the slalom. His first run was 45.23 and his second was 45.56 (both first places) for a combined time of 1:31.79.
"I felt good," he said of his three runs down the slopes. "I felt smooth, but aggressive, in both events."
The 17-year-old junior skied at the Stratton Mountain School as a freshman and sophomore, then came over to Burr and Burton, where he also excelled as a soccer player.
"I'm much more comfortable in the slalom," he said. "I was struggling with my technique in the giant slalom at the beginning, but coaching help me figure it out."
Eric Horak of Essex took second place in the slalom with a combined time of 1:37.47 and Stowe's Ian Anderson was third at 1:37.78. Burr and Burton's Peter Schow was fourth at 1:38.01 and Woodstock's Benn Mapes finished fifth with a time of 1:40.23.
The Bulldogs finished 1-4-13-17 in the slalom.
Rutland's Dan Wigmore was eighth (40.31) in the GS and 10th (1:42.65) in the slalom.
Burr and Burton last won the state title in 2006.
Bulldog coach Pete McNealus said he was thrilled to see his boys take home the team trophy and said that Brandon Ogilvie just keeps getting better on the slopes.
"Brandon is a very talented skier," he said. "He's been skiing faster and faster."
McNealus said that, the night before the states, he scheduled a team ski tuning and pizza party. Strategy was also discussed. According to NcNealus, assistant coach Dan Hutner offered the skiing team some sage advice: "He said, 'Ski like you've been skiing all year. It's nothing different. It's just another day.'"
McNealus said he had heard talk about some of the talent of the northern schools but had no idea just what they would bring on the big day.
"I'm very, very proud of the team and how they executed the plan we had," he said. "I told them to ski smart, which also means to finish."
Burr and Burton prevailed, despite the fact that Schow fell and did not finish in the GS. That only shows the team spirit of the Bulldogs, McNealus said.
"How they handled that is what good teams are made of," he said.
Chris Ogilvie, an 18-year-old senior, has been the unselfish leader of the Bulldogs, McNealus said.
"We bonded as a team this year," Chris Ogilvie said. "We all know each other very well."
Anderson, the 17-year-old junior from Stowe, said that he hoped to fare better in the GS (19th place) but made a mistake and lost some time in his run.
Anderson was looking to take second place in the slalom but "third is still pretty good," he said.
"I was just glad that I had two good runs," Anderson said of his slalom performance.
The other team scores: Lyndon 248; St. Johnsbury268; South Burlington 284; Mount Mansfield 292; Harwood 319; BFA-St. Albans 357; Burlington 425; Rivendell 556.
dennis.jensen@rutlandherald.com
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