After crash, Houtsma roars back to win Nordic Skate; Battle Mountain, Aspen win ski titles
ASPEN — Graham Houtsma came roaring around a corner after a downhill, and took a spill.
He had been leading Friday’s Nordic Skate race on the final day of the state skiing championships at Aspen Highlands from its start. But this crash cost him that lead, dropping him to third, and to top it off, his right pole broke.
“I felt really out of control coming down into that,” Houtsma said. “I was actually getting a little scared. And then I crashed, and I didn’t realize I’d broken my pole until I pushed my arm down. I thought I was going into powder.”
Houstma raised his pole to signify that he’d broken it, and someone from the crowd gave him another. But it was left-handed. He quickly got another from a teammate, but it was too long.
“I just said, ‘OK, whatever, I’ll deal with it,'” said Houstma, who was second in Thursday’s Nordic Classic.
And he did. Houtsma came roaring back to win the race by one-tenth of a second, edging out Cameron Wolfe of Vail Mountain.
After he secured the pole, Houtsma said, “I started to think, ‘Alright, where is Cameron Wolfe? I just started looking for him. I was like, ‘Don’t panic, don’t give up.’ I was going as hard as I could right up until the end. He was right next to me all the way through.”
Houtsma had crashed in a race like this before, and used it to his advantage.
“I don’t really panic in situations like that,” he said. “I try to think logically, like, ‘OK, what should I be doing?’ I kind of do a quick survey of my body and my surroundings.
“I’ve had crashes in nordic before, so I’ve had a little bit of experience,” he added. “That helped me.”
Houtsma finished in 12:37.0, while Wolfe was 12:37.1. Aspen’s Jack Sweeney finished third in 12:59.8.
Houtsma’s effort wasn’t enough, though, to help Aspen keep its Day 1 lead in the team race. The Skiers were overtaken by Battle Mountain, which repeated as champion with 592.5 points. Aspen was second with 578, and Steamboat Springs (563) was third.
The Huskies, who now have seven boys skiing titles, were buoyed by their star, senior Quintin Cook.
Cook put a bow on a great weekend at the state event — and his high school career. Cook, who won the Giant Slalom on Thursday, defended his championship in the Slalom on Friday.
Cook had a two-run total of 1:13.0, edging out Owen Tallmadge of Evergreen (1:13.6). Middle Park’s Cole Riccio (1:14.4) was third.
Then, at the season-ending banquet on Friday night, Cook won the Skimeister award for the second year in a row. The award is given annually to the top skier in both disciplines.
Meanwhile, the Aspen girls put an end to Summit’s run of three-straight championships. The Skiers amassed 618 total points, beating second-place Battle Mountain, which had 597. Summit finished third with 591.
It is Aspen’s seventh girls championship in skiing, and first since 2012.
Evergreen sophomore Mallorie Miller captured the girls Slalom in 1:23.4. She was second in the Giant Slalom on Thursday.
Summit’s Gisele Thompson (1:24.3) and Gabrielle Myers (1:25.2) rounded out the top-three finishers, and Haley Frischholz of Battle Mountain placed fourth in 1:26.1
Frischholz won the girls’ Skimeister award on Friday night. She was also 40th in the Skate. On Thursday, Frischholz was fifth in the Giant Slalom, and 38th in the Nordic Classic.
Vail Mountain’s Maddie Donovan won the Nordic Skate on Friday, finishing in 14:12.7. She had finished third in the Classic.
Summit’s Ruthie Boyd, who won the Classic race, finished second in 14:40.2. Battle Mountain’s Megan Rossman (14:57.5) placed third.
