Eight ski racers from the Sparta Alpine Racing Ski Team qualified to race in this years State Race of Champions. Named "ALL LEAGUE" Top 33% were Brendan Muhs, Joe Russo, Connor McAndris, Polina Novozhilova, Jillian Stote & Olivia Finkeldie. Named "Honorable Mention" Top 40% were Tucker Sears & Jack Imgrund. The ROC consisted of one giant slalom run followed by one slalom run with time for inspection in between runs.
The NJ Race Of Champions (ROC) took place on Friday March 1st 2019. 48 racers competed in the mens Race of Champions. Sparta Team Captain Brendan Muhs won podium placement tied for third place overall with a total time of 1:17.06, sharing the podium 3rd place with Brennan Chuang of Wayne Valley. Winning first place overall at the ROC was Kyle Hayes of Vernon with a total time of 1:14.39 and in second place was Alex D'alessandro with a total time of 1:16.66. In the giant slalom competition Brendan Muhs finished 7th and in the slalom race he won 2nd place.
All three Sparta Girl racers finished strong and in the top 15 in a field of 37 total racers. Polina Novozhilova finished in 12th place with a total time of 1:26.25, Olivia Finkeldie finished in 14th place with a total time of 1:28.68 and just behind her was teammate Jillian Stote finishing in 15th place with a total time of 1:29.08. Kaitlin Devir of Ridgewood won first place with a time of 1:18.92, Martina Birch of Vernon won second with a time of 1:21.72 and Jane McKinley of Ridgewood won third with a total time of 1:22.66.
Here are the final race result for our Sparta Ski racers:
- BOYS:
- 39 Brendan Muhs 43.48 (7) 33.58 (2) 1:17.06 (3rd)
- 68 Joe Russo 47.38 (35) 41.40 (35) 1:28.78 (32nd)
- 82 Jack Imgrund 48.37 (39) 43.14 (40) 1:31.51 (36th)
- 81 Tucker Sears 49.95 (44) 41.85 (37) 1:31.80 (38th)
- 71 Connor McAndris 45.54 (21) DNF
- GIRLS:
- 13 Polina Novozhilova 47.06 (10) 39.19 (12) 1:26.25 (12th)
- 21 Olivia Finkeldie 47.97 (18) 40.71 (15) 1:28.68 (14th)
- 17 Jillian Stote 49.14 (24) 39.94 (13) 1:29.08 (15th)
With the results in from the Race of Champions, the NJISRA committee was able to finalize the individual league points for each racer. League points determine which racers would advance to join the NJ State Team of 12 and compete in Eastern Regionals. Brendan Muhs finished the season 2nd overall with 113.5 points, Polina Novozhilova finished the season in 12th place with 82.3 points. Brendan and Polina both qualified for the first NJISRA State Team. Jillian Stote finished in 16th place with 64.7 points. All three racers made the NJISRA State Team and will be competing in the USSA Eastern Regional High School Championship at Attitash Bear Peak in New Hampshire Friday March 8 through Sun March 10. Good Luck to Brendan, Polina & Jillian at Eastern Regionals!
To view all the racers times for the 2019 ROC, go to the race results on SpartaSki.com website.