Woodstock, BBA claim South titles
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Woodstock's Lizzy Miller flies down the giant slalom course en route to a fifth-place finish during Tuesday's Alpine South Districts at Suicide Six in Pomfret. Miller was also sixth in the slalom as her Wasps topped Rutland for the girls team title. ALBERT J. MARRO / RUTLAND HERALD |
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By Dennis Jensen Staff Writer - Published: February 10, 2010
POMFRET — Rutland's Caitlin Bliss won both the giant slalom and slalom events, but the Woodstock girls stunned the heavily favored Raider team and Burr and Burton captured the boys title at the high school Alpine South Districts at Suicide Six on Tuesday.
Bliss blistered the competition in the slalom, beating the second-place finisher by more than six seconds, and was the only girl to finish the combined runs in under a minute. Bliss had a first-run time of 28.34 and was clocked at 30.22 in her second run for a total time of 58.56.
The 16-year-old junior won the giant slalom with a time of 45.79.
"These past few weeks I've gotten better in the GS," she said. "I had this mental block that I couldn't go fast in the GS. I threw that block out the door."
Burr and Burton ruled the slopes in the boys slalom competition — taking a 1-2-6-12 finish — as Brandon Ogilvie won the slalom event and teammate Peter Schow was first in the GS.
Ogilvie had the best run of the day on his first run with a time of 25.44 and a second run of 27.53 for a combined time of 52.97.
The 17-year-old senior, who won the slalom southern districts last year, snapped the tip of one of his racing skis during the first slalom run and had to strap on his practice skis for his second run.
"The training skis were pretty dull," he said. "It was a struggle to get downhill with dull skis. The snow was bulletproof, extremely icy."
Schow, a 16-year-old sophomore, was right behind with a combined time of 53.51.
"I'm having fun this year," said Schow, who won the 2009 southern districts in the GS.
The Rutland girls have dominated southern Vermont skiing this season, but saw their chances fall after Angie Lucian skied out in both the GS and slalom events.
But it was also a case of the Woodstock girls skiing so well that they took first place in team points in both the GS and slalom, winning the team title with a score of 39. Rutland was second with 46 points, followed by Burr and Burton (97), Middlebury (106) and Rivendell (158).
Woodstock coach Bill McCollom said the Wasps home course at Suicide Six consisted of "a very deep hill, a very unique personality, because it was steep and it was icy," conditions that his girls and boys were familiar with.
"I think that's the key to Woodstock's success," he said. "They know this hill. This is where they train. The girls earned this win."
Burr and Burton coach Pete McNealus said that the Raider girls "are very strong and very deep" but added, "The thing with ski racing is anything can happen. You either win as a team or lose as a team."
The Bulldog boys clearly won as a team, but trailed both Rutland and Woodstock after staking a 1-4-20-21 finish in the GS. They came back to the strong 1-2-6-12 finish in the slalom to capture the boys competition with 63 points. Woodstock was second with 73 points, followed by Rutland (94), Black River (95) and Thetford (144).
Rutland coach Tyler Weiderman said his girls were in the hunt after the first run of the slalom, with Lucian still in competition, but she skied out in her second run and that hurt the Raiders chances to take first place.
"We had a chance to win the slalom," he said. "But that's ski racing."
Bliss said that she is typically stronger in the slalom and said that coming down the GS course, the first event of the day, she "felt OK" about how her run was going.
"But when you come down and hear the parents hooting and hollering, you know you had a good run," she said.
The top four teams in the southern districts go on to the state championships at Sugarbush in Waitsfield on March 4.
The top 15 boys Slalom
1. Ogilvie, Brandon, BBA, 52.97 2. Schow, Peter, BBA, 53.51 3. Normyle, Dillon, BRHS, 56.51.4. Greenwood, James, BRHS, 57.40 5. Wigmore, Dan, RHS, 57.66 6. Nebraska, Mark, BBA, 58.08 7. Farrand, Henry, WUHS, 58.42 8. Blackman, Colton, WUHS, 59.00 9. Blackman, Austin, WUHS, 1:00.57. 10. Frates, Matt, WUHS, 1:02.80 11. Putnam, Caleb, WUHS, 1:03.71 12. Bauer, Valentin, BBA, 1:07.25 13. Bucksbaum, Brendan, RHS, 1:19.20 14. Henderson, Nate, BBA, 1:19.48 15. Ramsey, John IND(MSJ) 1:24.76.
The top 15 Girls Slalom
1. Bliss, Caitlin, RHS, 58.56 2. Krohn, Greta IND (Verg), 1:04.94 3 Farrow, Hannah, IND (BR), 1:05.66 4. Harrington, Sam, WUHS, 1:05.80 5. Clarisse, Alexa, MUHS, 1:08.24 6. Miller, Lizzy, WUHS, 1:08.65 7. Thomas, Amanda, RHS, 1:08.81 8. Harris, Chisty, WUHS, 1:10.48 9. Reis, Nell, RHS, 1:10.67 10. Schow, Marie, BBA, 1:11.73 11. Davenport, Jessy, WUHS, 1:11.84 12. Bucksbarry, Caitlan, RHS, 1:11.88 13. Guth, Sara, RHS, 1:14.66 14. Sherras, Victoria, BBA, 1:18.43 15. Gayda, Sydney, BBA, 1:20.10.
The top 15 Girls Giant Slalom
1. Bliss, Caitlin, RHS, 45.79 2. Krohn, Greta, IND (Verg), 46.92 3. Harrington, Sam, WUHS, 47.86 4. Farrow, Hannah, IND (BR), 48.09 5. Miller, Lizzy, WUHS, 48.12 6. Clarisse, Alexa, MUHS, 48.65 7. Harris, Cristy, WUHS, 49.34 8. Bucksbaum, Caitlin, RHS, 49.74 9. Thomas, Amanda, RHS, 49.81 10. Davenport, Jessy, WUHS, 50.71 11. Harnett, Cassie, RHS, 51.46 12. Alexopoulos, Chelsea, BBA, 51.70 13. Schow, Marie, BBA. 52.24 14. Galenkamp, Amanda , MUHS, 52.27 15. Sherras, Victoria, BBA,52.57.
The top 15 Boys Giant Slalom
1. Schow, Peter, BBA, 42.29 2. Flynn, Tyler, RHS, 43.09 3. Normyle, Dillon, BRHS, 43.22 4. Nebraska, Mark, BBA, 44.55 5. Farrand, Henry, WUHS, 44.92 6. Blake, Tyler, THA, 45.23 7. Wigmore, Chris, RHS, 45.36 8. Wigmore, Dan, RHS, 45.38 9. Nattsson, Sawyer, WUHS, 46.02 10. Blackman, Colton, WUHS, 46.28 11. Bradder, Thomas, RHS, 46.31 12. Bucksbaum, Brendan, RHS, 46.47 13. Rotella, Reese, RHS, 46.62 14. Greenwood, James, BRHS, 46.66 15. Ramsey, John, IND (MSJ), 47.30.
dennis.jensen@rutlandherald.com
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