They did it again! Having already secured our advancement into the State Championship races at the end of the month, last nights final slalom race was no longer critical and our ski team was able to race free of pressure. While the women's course was challenging, the boys course was tight and fast, everyone was going to have to work extra hard to finish with a decent time. The enthusiastic cheers coming from the Sparta fans at the finish line encouraged our racers to give it their all. Our team rose to the challenge to close out the regular season and remain podium winners. The Sparta Ski Team made last night's Valentine's Day Slalom race extra sweet, as both the boy and girls varsity ski teams won second place.
I don't believe there has been a season in Sparta's Ski Team history in which either the boys or the girls team consistently placed among the top three in all its conference races, until now. Congratulations Varsity Boys & Girls Ski Teams for skiing your hearts out this season!
The Sparta varsity boys ski team won second place last night with a total team time of 5:20.79. Taking first place was Ridgewood High School. Team captain Brendan Muhs had another perfect race and finished 1st place overall for the third slalom race in a row. Contributing to the boys second place victory last night were racers Brendan Muhs (1st place overall), Joe Russo (13th overall), Jack Imgrund (15th overall) and Tucker Sears (25th overall). The boys closed out their six conference races with podium placement in every race this season: (1) 1st Place, (4) 2nd Place & (1) 3rd Place finish.
The Sparta girls varsity ski team also raced to an impressive second place win last night, behind Ridgewood High in first place. The Sparta Girls Varsity Ski Team won second place with a total team race time of 5:09.26. Leading the Sparta Girls Varsity Ski Team to the second place win were racers Jillian Stote (6th overall), Olivia Finkeldie (8th overall), Polina Novozhilova (9th overall) and Claudia Calafati (14th overall). The girls also closed out their six conference races with podium placement in every race of the season: (1) 1st Place, (3) 2nd Place & (2) 3rd Place finish.
Sparta racer Jake Scott once again topped the JV boys charts for the third slalom race in a row finishing 1st overall with a total race time of 1:24.76. Both the girls and boys JV Ski Teams will be looking to win podium placement at the upcoming JV State Championships next Thursday Feb. 21st at 5pm.
Now onto the JV, Petro & State Championships!