The Oyster River Alpine Ski Team ended their season on a high note, with the girls winning both their races as well as the boys taking second in theirs. Everyone was looking forward to a fun last regular season race and really wanted to put it all out there and “shred the gnar” as Nico Colarusso (‘22) explained.
The race started with giant slalom (GS) in the morning and followed with slalom in the afternoon. With the warm temperatures, the team was a bit nervous as to how the course would hold and hoped that ruts (areas where snow piles up or is dug out) would be limited. The ORHS Alpine Ski Team coach, Daryn Gladstone explained, “the goal today was to have lots of fun and do well, and I think [the race] went very well today, there was lots of good skiing.” Gladstone also mentioned his favorite part of his day was “the cake at the end of the day, celebrating the seniors was awesome.” The whole team would agree with him on this one for sure!
Even though the team questioned the conditions prior to their runs, individually and as a team, the ORHS Alpine Ski Team had a very successful race. Maddie Merrill (‘22) stated that “I think the team did great. I always really like Pats Peak races because the morale is always really high and it’s a less stressful environment.” The girls placed first overall for both GS and slalom, along with the boys placing second overall for both GS and slalom. Top ten placers in GS from Oyster River were Olivia Mueller (‘24), Jen Newick (‘22), Emily Macpherson (‘23), Mia Weglarz (‘25), Nico Colarusso (‘22), John Newick (‘24), Ollie Sterndale (‘25), and Logan Courtright (‘25). In slalom the top ten placers for Oyster River were Olivia Mueller (‘24), Maddie Merrill (‘22), Jen Newick (‘22), Emily Macpherson (‘23), Mia Weglarz (‘25), Nico Colarusso (‘22), John Newick (‘24), and Reed Larson-Dennen (‘23).
Livi Gass (‘22) commented on the successful day saying, “I really enjoyed skiing with the team, with it being our last [regular season] race it was a great day.” Gass along with other seniors and underclassmen really took this last race together as a team and made it a super fun and upbeat day. Dillon Ladd (‘22) and Luca Fortin (‘22) would also like to add that if you are ever at Pats Peak “the mogul trail to the left is the best, it was by far the highlight of the day.” The team ended the day with celebrating the seniors and their last race with cake and pictures after the second slalom run.
Next week, the top six boys will compete at Cranmore for states on Monday. The top six girls will follow competing at Cranmore for states on Tuesday. Good luck to them and congratulations to the ORHS Alpine Ski Team for such a successful season!
Photos by Millissa Gass