The girls varsity Ski team took the slopes at their state races over the weekend. Last year, the girls placed first and were hoping for a repeat this year but sadly were not able to clinch the top spot. However, they did have many victories like placing fifth in the Giant Slalom, eighth in the Slalom as a team, and had several high-placing individual skiers. One of them being junior Courtney Mcalindon, who took home first place in the Giant Slalom races.

“I was extremely excited when I got first place,” Courtney said. “After a rough morning of being disqualified because of a fall in the Slalom races, I was really hoping I would end on a high note and I did.”

Courtney had two strong times in her Giant Slalom races. Her first run had a time of 27.7 seconds and her ending run had a time of 24.17 seconds. Courtney was not the only one to have a successful meet, junior Kayley Reynolds placed fifth in the Giant Slalom. After having a leg injury at the beginning of the season this was a huge accomplishment for her.

“It motivates me to see Kayley out there after her injury and to see how hard she worked to get back out there,” Courtney said. “It is just so great to see our whole team back together again.”

Kayley’s first run in the Giant Slalom races had a time of 29.01 seconds and she had a second run time of 25.13 seconds. Alongside Kayley was freshman Abby Mcalindon. Abby had a great first time at the state races taking home 20 in the Giant Slalom races and 15 in the Slalom races.

Abby’s initial runtime in the Slalom was 35.78 seconds and she had a second run time of 38.34 seconds. Her first race time in the Giant Slalom was 32.05 seconds and her ending time was 25.43 seconds.

“I felt that my performance could have been a little bit better, but it was pretty good for my first time at states,” Abby said. “But its ski and each race is different and you never know what to expect going into a race, so, all in all, I’m just happy I placed.”

The girls team qualified together as a whole team to go prove themselves at states, but as for the boys team, only one of them qualified to go, senior Ben Finkelstein. Ben had a solid day and was able to place 13 in the Giant Slalom and 16 in the Slalom.

“I felt pretty good about my Giant Slalom run at states because that race has never been my strong suit, but my run on the Slalom was a different story,” Ben said. “I was feeling great at the beginning of the Slalom but fell halfway down the pitch, I recovered pretty well but only well enough to be placed 23 at the end of the first round.”

Even though the weather conditions and the outcome of the state races were not nearly as superior as they expected Ben and the girls varsity Ski team had a great run this season.

“We have all the experience and all the confidence that we need now, knowing this and knowing what our competition will be like next year makes the nerves go away,” Abby said. “Next season I just hope that we set the goal to make it to states again because I have complete confidence in our team.”