Although it may feel like the Alpine ski racing season just started for Summit High School, the team is already quickly approaching the state competition.

On Jan. 31 the team competed in its final slalom race of the season prior to the state meet, and Summit continued to put athletes under the state-qualifying mark and secure podium finishes in the team rankings. 

Taking place at Beaver Creek Ski Area, the Summit boys Alpine ski team had three athletes get under the state-qualifying cutoff. Leading the performances for the team was sophomore Aaron Green.

Green recorded a time of 42.31 seconds on his first run before shedding a couple seconds on his second run (40.90). With a total time of 1:23.21, Green finished in fourth place overall.

A deep and talented Aspen High School boys Alpine ski team swept the top three spots on the podium. Sophomore Matt McDermott took first (1:17.94), senior Parker Kendrick finished in second (1:18.92) and Joshua Stephen took third (1:22.27).

Green was soon followed by senior teammate Tegan Snyder who managed to nab a state-qualifying mark and place 10th overall (1:42.13). Senior Emmett Dalzell was the final Summit boys skier to go under the state-qualifying mark, placing 14th overall in 1:43.58.

Senior Keith Miller and junior Michael Citak narrowly missed out on earning a state-qualifying mark. Miller placed 21st (1:50.76) while Citak finished in 22nd (1:51.04).

Summit put three more athletes within the top 30. Senior Mason McEntire finished in 26th (1:53.40), junior Asher Check-Krigma finished 27th (1:55.0) and senior Nicolas Ryan took 28th (1:55.45).

Junior Benjamin Ryan took 32nd (2:01.96), junior Kael Wooten finished in 35th (2:06.45), freshman Holden York took 36th (2:10.96), sophomore Bridger Fiorelli took 38th (2:15.87), sophomore Ethan Snyder rounded out the top 40 in 40th (2:25.88) and Thomas Deloryn finished in 42nd (2:30.23).

With a total of 159 points, Summit finished second behind Aspen (177). Battle Mountain High School took third with 154 points.

Summit’s pursuit of state qualifiers continued in the girls slalom race. After seeing three athletes go under the mark in the boys race, seven athletes earned state-qualifying performances in the girls race.

Junior Kilee Blakely was the top finisher for Summit. Blakely recorded a time of 1:32.45 in order to place fourth overall. Aspen senior Darienne Kenny won the race (1:27.82), Battle Mountain freshman Eden DeMino took second (1:28.98), Aspen senior Rocksy Kroeger finished in third (1:30.39).

Two more Summit skiers finished within the top 10. Freshman Lauren Leffel finished in eighth (1:34.70) and sophomore Katelyn Lemon took 10th (1:37.70). The final four state-qualifying athletes included sophomore Claire Jackson in 11th place (1:38.15), sophomore Alex Stoyanova in 14th (1:40.08), freshman Lily Foss in 17th (1:41.81) and senior Kristiana Stoyanova in 19th (1:42.62).

Senior Sadie Slahetka took 29th (1:50.05), sophomore Cameron Way finished in 44th (2:06.38), senior Adelaide Brady took 48th (2:13.34) and freshman Deven Harberts took 53rd (2:20.75). 

The Summit girls Alpine ski team scored 163 points to take third overall in the team rankings. Battle Mountain took second with 168 points, and Aspen won the race with 173 points.

Following its second giant slalom race of the season at Ski Cooper on Friday, Feb. 7, Summit will have its final qualifying opportunity in the race discipline on Friday, Feb. 14, at Keystone Resort. In the team’s first giant slalom race on Jan. 24 at Keystone, the Summit boys took first and the Summit girls finished in second.

After the final giant slalom race, the Tigers will then prepare for the two-day state competition from Feb. 20-21 in Aspen.