{"id":42583,"date":"2020-02-26T19:37:54","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T02:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=379621"},"modified":"2020-02-26T19:37:54","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T02:37:54","slug":"summit-high-alpine-nordic-teams-ready-to-rip-at-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/local-news\/summit-high-alpine-nordic-teams-ready-to-rip-at-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Summit High Alpine, Nordic teams ready to rip at state"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Katherine Puc leads the way as the Summit High Nordic Ski team practices on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at the Frisco Nordic Center.<\/strong>
Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

FRISCO \u2014 More than two dozen Summit High skiers will compete at the Colorado High School Ski League\u2019s state championship Alpine and Nordic events in Beaver Creek Thursday and Friday.<\/p>\n

On the Alpine side, the girls team has the potential to finish on the podium\u2014 potentially at a high spot \u2014 thanks to a deep group of talent in both the slalom and giant slalom. On the boys side, the Tigers will be led by strong freshmen and veteran skiers and could surprise their opponents with a high finish if all goes well, especially in the fickle slalom discipline.<\/p>\n

As for the Nordic team, head coach Eva Hagen is proud that 10 Tigers, including eight non-club skiers, qualified for state in a year the program emphasized team unity over strictly strong finishes from individuals.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the season, Tigers junior Liam Goettelman said the energy and cohesion of this year\u2019s team was positive enough for him in his first season to race better than ever before and feel comfortable to rise into a leadership role. Goettleman will be racing at state after a strong season which started off with a first-place finish for the Tigers in the classic at Spring Gulch.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy kick wax worked pretty well,\u201d he said. \u201cI was also able to gain a lot of time on the downhills compared to other kids, which helped me out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goettleman will be joined at state by teammates Evan Callahan, Jonah Mocatta, Jacob Shriver, Christian Skowron and Jessy Dorton. Goettleman highlighted freshman Skowron as a Tiger who\u2019s risen to the occasion, especially in skate races.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has really good technique from the previous years, and he\u2019s also little so he has good turnover,\u201d Goettleman said.<\/p>\n

The Summit girls team will have Aubree Confer, Katherine Puc, Chloe Knickrehm and Paige Wescott racing. Hagen said Puc has been a great leader for the Tigers girls this year. Puc has been one of Summit\u2019s top finishers as well, including a standout performance at the Snow Mountain Ranch dual event.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went and skied the course beforehand so we knew where to push ourselves during our race,\u201d Puc said, \u201cand that\u2019s a big thanks to the coaches, who\u2019ve really helped with technique and sharing how and where to push ourselves, where to go the hardest and where to rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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