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THE DALLES-WAHTONKA skier Tyler Holeman scurries down the hillside during the 5A state tournament at Mount Hood Meadows. Holeman ended his high school career with a 23rd place finish.
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TDW ski team ends on high note
By Ray Rodriguez
The Chronicle
For seven members of The Dalles-Wahtonka ski team, last weekend was the fruition of all the countless hours of due diligence on the slopes.
TDW’s girls team of Sage Barnard-Davidson, Lori Moore, Elisabeth Stadler, Valerie Maule, Maya Barnard-Davidson, Tyler Holeman and Connor Batty hit Mount Hood Meadows in the 50th state championships the Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association, which governs high school ski racing in Oregon.
State was held at Mount Hood Meadows, rescheduled from Ski Bowl because of lack of snow.
The event was a two-day excursion with the first day coming at the GS Two-Bowl and Friday, the final event was the Slalom event on the Stadium Course.
Taking their lead from Sage Barnard-Davidson and Lori Moore, the Eagle Indian girls chalked up a total time of 12:10.37 for 13th overall in the team standings.
“On the Slalom course on Stadium, the girls were faced with foggy weather and an erratic and unusual set for the first run. But, our girls skied it fairly well,” TDW head coach Jeff Cordell said. “On the second run, the girls enjoyed sunnier weather and softer snow which turned out to ski well for the entire girls lineup.”
Jesuit (10:40.92) garnered the state championship, while Hood River Valley ended up in second just one second from the girls title with a total run of 10:41.96.
Summit (10:46.94), Bend (10:48.89) and Oregon Episcopal School (11:03.88) rounded out the top-5 finishers.
Earning the top girls time was West Linn’s McKenzie Burns, who turned in a two-run time of 3:24.81 and Bend’s Ciara Timm tallied a second-place total of 3:25.86.
For TDW, Barnard-Davidson battled against 123 competitors and earned a 23rd-place time of 3:46.96.
In her first run, Barnard-Davidson ended up with a time of 1:45.65 on the Slalom and was 2:01.31 in her second flight down the course on the GS Two-Bowl.
“Sage put in two hot runs and earned 15th place (on the GS Two-Bowl), and as a junior, that’s a great accomplishment,” Cordell said. “The best results for the entire team.”
Moore (1:44.29, 2:14.68) stopped the watch in a combined 35th place with a total of 3:58.97, just 34.16 seconds off the pace.
Elisabeth Stadler started her first run slalom with a time of 2:01.43 and tallied a second-run tally in the Two-Bowl at 2:29.73 for a total standing of 4:31.16 for 60th place overall.
Valerie Maule (2:34.74, 2:35.26, 5:10.00) was good for 74th overall, and teammate Maya Barnard-Davidson was disqualified on her initial run, however, rebounded on her on the GS Two-Bowl, finishing with a time of 2:25.62 for 75th.
“Lori skied a little tentatively on the first run, but had a great second run. Elisabeth had two solid runs, Valerie had a good first run, but crashed and had to hike on her second,” Cordell said. “The girls grand slalom down Two-Bowl was set well and our girls skied with a lot of confidence.”
On the boys side, Hood River Valley ended the season exactly the way it started, with a top run.
The Eagles turned in a total time of 9:34.02 for top honors. Summit (9:43.40), South Eugene (10:01.26) and West Linn (10:13.68) rounded the top teams.
HRV’s Colton Swearingen had the top time at 3:05.84 and Summit’s Christian Schuster was second with a time of 3:09.32.
Holeman finished his two-run GS two bowl races in 23rd place taking a first run time of 58.44 before finishing with a final tally of 2:01.06.
Batty crashed on his first run on the GS Two-Bowl, but had a decent time for his second run with a time of 1:06.58.
On the SL course, Holeman put in a solid first run with a time of 45.30, finishing fast and loose with no mistakes; however, in his second run he straddled a gate and lost a ski, went down hard and was unable to finish.
Looking at the accomplishments of his team, Cordell was proud. With many of the competitors coming back next season, the veteran coach is excited at the possibilities.
“It was a great season for our team. We benefited from getting to practice on Fridays,” he said. “Tyler Holeman is graduating. He is our only senior on the team, so we are definitely looking forward to next year.”
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.Sports Editor Ray Rodriguez can be reached at (541) 506-4618 or email RRodriguez (at) thedalleschronicle.com.
