News
ENLARGE
COPPER MOUNTAIN — The Summit High School alpine ski team has only one home race all season long, and the Tigers made the most of it.
SHS had a strong overall day on the fresh-snow slopes Friday as the SHS boys and girls squads both cruised to top-three finishes in the season’s first giant slalom event.
The boys rounded out the team podium finishing third behind first-place Evergreen and runner-up Middle Park.
“The guys skied well,” said first-year Summit head coach Dave Ellena. “We were missing our top three skiers.”
While Summit may have been missing some of its top talent, the participating Tigers definitely showed their teeth with seven of the 11 skiers qualifying for the state meet.
SHS junior Matthias Krainz spearheaded the effort on the slopes, finishing in fourth place on the day.
“Matthias had two solid runs,” Ellena commented.
Senior captain Ben Ferris put forth the Tigers’ second-best runs finishing 12th while junior Grant Peterson (13th), first-year senior Jeff Goldstein (16th) freshman Ridge Strickler (19th) and sophomore Kyle Schwab (20th) helped round out the Summit skiers in the top 20.
Senior Lucas Hill (21st) also had respectable runs, rounding out the state qualifiers.
“We had a couple younger kids step up,” Ellena added. “It’s a great thing to get all those guys qualified.”
The Summit girls squad finished even higher than their male counterparts as they swooshed their way to a stellar second-place team finish.
“The girls had a solid race,” Ellena said. “I’m really proud of them.”
Summit qualified five girls for the state meet, but it was the fast-paced Evergreen female team that took high honors, sweeping the podium with the top three finishers of the day. The Evergreen teams are made up of 15 schools throughout the Jefferson County school district.
The cream of the crop on the Summit girls squad was senior Meigan Canfield, who placed fifth overall.
“Meigan had two solid runs,” Ellena said. “She is by far the most standout skier for us.”
Sophomore Haley Gage had a strong showing with a seventh-place finish, while senior co-captain Sydney Schwab captured 10th place. The other senior co-captain, Lara Silven took home 12th and senior Michelle Maddex (16th) was the final state qualifier for the ladies.
After graduating 18 skiers off last year’s squads, the Summit teams are attempting to reclaim the mountaintop as the girls try to capture their sixth straight state title while the boys hope for a repeat championship of their own.
“The kids want to win,” Ellena commented. “They’re working hard but have a lot of work to do to get back to where we’ve been in the past. I’m extremely confident we can get there.”
The Tigers will get another week to train at Keystone before they travel to Winter Park on Friday for a slalom race.
SHS had a strong overall day on the fresh-snow slopes Friday as the SHS boys and girls squads both cruised to top-three finishes in the season’s first giant slalom event.
The boys rounded out the team podium finishing third behind first-place Evergreen and runner-up Middle Park.
“The guys skied well,” said first-year Summit head coach Dave Ellena. “We were missing our top three skiers.”
While Summit may have been missing some of its top talent, the participating Tigers definitely showed their teeth with seven of the 11 skiers qualifying for the state meet.
SHS junior Matthias Krainz spearheaded the effort on the slopes, finishing in fourth place on the day.
“Matthias had two solid runs,” Ellena commented.
Senior captain Ben Ferris put forth the Tigers’ second-best runs finishing 12th while junior Grant Peterson (13th), first-year senior Jeff Goldstein (16th) freshman Ridge Strickler (19th) and sophomore Kyle Schwab (20th) helped round out the Summit skiers in the top 20.
Senior Lucas Hill (21st) also had respectable runs, rounding out the state qualifiers.
“We had a couple younger kids step up,” Ellena added. “It’s a great thing to get all those guys qualified.”
The Summit girls squad finished even higher than their male counterparts as they swooshed their way to a stellar second-place team finish.
“The girls had a solid race,” Ellena said. “I’m really proud of them.”
Summit qualified five girls for the state meet, but it was the fast-paced Evergreen female team that took high honors, sweeping the podium with the top three finishers of the day. The Evergreen teams are made up of 15 schools throughout the Jefferson County school district.
The cream of the crop on the Summit girls squad was senior Meigan Canfield, who placed fifth overall.
“Meigan had two solid runs,” Ellena said. “She is by far the most standout skier for us.”
Sophomore Haley Gage had a strong showing with a seventh-place finish, while senior co-captain Sydney Schwab captured 10th place. The other senior co-captain, Lara Silven took home 12th and senior Michelle Maddex (16th) was the final state qualifier for the ladies.
After graduating 18 skiers off last year’s squads, the Summit teams are attempting to reclaim the mountaintop as the girls try to capture their sixth straight state title while the boys hope for a repeat championship of their own.
“The kids want to win,” Ellena commented. “They’re working hard but have a lot of work to do to get back to where we’ve been in the past. I’m extremely confident we can get there.”
The Tigers will get another week to train at Keystone before they travel to Winter Park on Friday for a slalom race.
