Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  With five races behind them and two to go, the Nederland Alpine Ski teams are getting serious about being the best they can at the state competition in Aspen. Now is the time for the skiers to fine tune their technique, and focus on balancing, going all out with no mistakes.

Coach Montana Fels says, “Our season has been going really well. I am continually impressed by the improvement I see every day and these athletes continue to work their hardest. We are excited to end our season knowing that we put everything we had into it, and we are pleased with the accomplishments we have made. Beaver Creek is going to be a great opportunity for us to see how we match up against the whole HS field before state. I am excited to see how we do.”

The boys’ team took fourth place at the Ski Cooper giant slalom race last Thursday. There were seven teams and 54 finishers. The Ned boys accumulated 151 points, just one point behind Summit County.

Racers who came in 19th place or better qualified for the state championship. They included: Quin Kuechenmeister, Jacob Scheiffler, and Decla Stone-Murphy.

Boys’ Individual Places and Times:

6. 609  Sr.  Quinn Kuechenmeister,  2:21.65

11. 617  Sr.  Jacob Scheffler,  2:25.41

15. 621  Jr.  Decla Stone-Murphy,  2:28.98

27. 776  Fr. Scout Edmondson,  2:34.05

34. 613  Casey Zukowski, 2:39.93

34. 622  Fr. Reece Titus, 2:39.93

39. 616  So. Ben Oschner,  2:43.38

43. 619  So. Jared Smerdell, 2:49.03

50. 607  So. Lucas Irvin, 3:02.39

51. 604  So. Jack Hayward,  3:04.02

The girls’ race fielded 63 skiers, and the Ned girls took fourth place out of seven teams. Skiers placing 22 or under qualified for state. Those who qualified included Delaney Pratt and Natalie Platte.

8. 344  So. Delaney Pratt, 2:22.22

19. 343  Jr.  Natalie Platte, 2:26.08

35. 339  So. Leah Kalil, 2:33.43

53. 349  Fr. Lauren Wilson, 2:49.15

59. 330  Sr. Gwyneth Bass, 3:07.50

61. 331  So. Sommyr Bass,  3:14.47