With four podium winning conference races behind us and only two conference slalom races left to our season, the Sparta Ski Team was not about to let off the accelerator. I made it crystal clear to our ski team that last night's slalom race would be our most important race to date. We needed to stay focused and ski at our best, and if we did the Sparta ski team would be rewarded at the end of the night. After completing our initial course inspection, all our racers were feeling confident and excited to burst out of the starting gate. They all raced aggressively and with passion last night and once again both the boys and girls varsity ski teams found podium placement. The varsity boys ski team won 1st place and the varsity girls ski team won 3rd place. And that reward, besides a snow day, we secured our advancement to compete at NJ State Championships at the end of the month. No matter what the results would be at our last conference slalom race on Thursday, both the boys and girls varsity ski teams would still finish above the required .500 mark. Congratulations Sparta Ski Team for skiing like champions; Well Deserved!
The Sparta varsity boys ski team won first place last night with a total team time of 5:06.65. Team captain Brendan Muhs won 1st place overall for the second slalom race in a row among the 39 boys who raced varsity. Contributing to the boys first place victory were Brendan Muhs (1st place overall), Connor McAndris (8th overall), Joe Russo (11th overall) and Jack Imgrund (13th overall). Tucker Sears finished 15th overall and Charlie Flint finished 18th overall.
The Sparta girls varsity ski team raced to a third place win last night, just behind Wayne Valley in 2nd place and Blair in 1st place. The Sparta Girls Varsity Ski Team won third place with a total team race time of 5:22.28. Leading the Sparta Girls Varsity Ski Team to the third place win were Polina Novozhilova (9th overall), Jillian Stote (10th overall), Olivia Finkeldie (12th overall) and Claudia Calafati (21st overall). Rachel Young finished 22nd overall and Cora Moriarty finished 23rd overall.
The Sparta JV ski racers also had a fantastic night and finished with a racer in 1st place overall for both the boys and girls competition. For the JV Boys ski team, Jake Scott won 1st place with a total time of 1:30.96 and Jack Maraziti finished in 4th place with a total time 1:36.07. For the JV Girls ski team, Rylee Selsor won 1st place with a total time of 1:30.22 and Olivia Calandrillo finished in 3rd place with a total time of 1:35.13. Our JV Ski Teams are going to be outstanding at the JV State Championships next week on Thursday Feb 21st.
Our next and last slalom conference race is on Valentine's Day, Thursday Feb. 14th at 5pm. Bring your sweetheart and show some love for our racers.
Congratulations Sparta Ski Team for advancing to the State Championships!