Middle Park High School’s Nordic ski teams shined at home with the boys winning both races Saturday at Snow Mountain Ranch and the girls reaching top rankings as well.
The skate and classic races saw a beautiful day with excellent snow conditions and 13 participating high schools — there were even a few moose near the course enjoying the weather that racers had to be on the lookout for.
Impressive times put Middle Park boys in first place for the classic race, beating Steamboat Springs and Aspen.
Middle Park’s Kimo Sullivan finished third with a time of 10 minutes, 6 seconds, just 23 seconds behind the first place winner. Sebastian Brower followed in fifth place at 10:15 and Alex Holinka followed in ninth place at 10:39.
“The team is great,” coach Dan Jamison said. “They’re all working hard, skiing great. They ski together well.”
The boy’s classic race had 161 skiers and eight of the top 18 came from Middle Park, with Gray Barker in 13th (10:55), Guy Granger in 15th (10:59), Ethan Callarman in 16th (11:00), Vinny Troccoli in 17th (11:02) and Graydon Walker in 18th (11:04).
The impressive standings continued for the boys into the afternoon with the skate event. Kimo Sullivan won first overall with a time of 12:56. Alex Holinka followed in 5th at 13:03 and Sebastian Brower finished 7th at 13:13.
The boys’ performance also won them first place overall in the skate race.
Panther girls excelled in the two races, taking fourth in the skate race and third in the classic. Sylvia Brower was the top Middle Park skier, placing fifth in the skate out of 115 racers with a time of 15:39. She was 22 seconds behind the winner from Vail Mountain.
“We’ve got depth in the men’s field; girls are becoming deeper and stronger,” Jamison said of the two teams.
Other top finishers in the skate race were Elizabeth Hammond, who was 11th at 16:11, and Maggie Barker, finishing 39th with a time of 18:40.
The girls finished third in the classic race behind Aspen and Battle Mountain. Sylvia Brower also shined in this race, taking third overall with a time of 11:58, following 20 seconds behind first.
Elizabeth Hammond was 16th at 13:10 and Maggie Barker finished in 30th with a time of 14:20.
The last regular season meeting for the skiers will be on Saturday in Aspen. The Panther boys are in a close race for first place, and the girls also sit near the top of league rankings.
EGMS boys first
Following the high school races, the East Grand Middle School boys Nordic team also took first place at Snow Mountain Ranch. The girls placed third.
Dane Jensen was the top skier from East Grand, finishing in 13 minutes and taking second place. Kadin Starr followed in third with a time of 13:22 and David Hammond came in fourth with a time of 13:37. Anna Lantermans was the top skier for the girls, taking sixth with a time of 16:07, followed by Paige Vecchiarelli in 12th (19:38) and Haley Miller in 14th (19:49).
The middle school will also finish its season on Saturday in Aspen.