First-Ever Alpine, Nordic Skiing State Championships Coming Up

AURORA – Skiing is, in some ways, a brand-new sport this year.

For the first time, the Colorado High School Activities Association is sponsoring team state championships in both Alpine and Nordic skiing. Previously, results from the two disciplines were combined to determine an overall state champion.

The different dynamic offers opportunities for teams that may not have easy access to competing in one discipline due to geography or athlete participation a chance to win a state championship.

“Obviously, there are some teams that only had one side or the other, so this is beneficial for them,” said Karl Barth, Alpine coach at Summit. “It’s a little sad because you lose all the history of it being combined dating back to the 1970s, and the NCAA still has it combined… but it’s interesting. It’s kind of like track & field, they’re combined, but yet they’re not. You can make an argument either way.”

The Alpine skiing championships (giant slalom and slalom) are Thursday and Friday at Aspen Highlands, while the Nordic competition (classic and skate-style cross country) are Feb. 27 and 28 at Steamboat Springs’ Ski Touring Center.

While Summit has been strong in both disciplines, programs like Poudre – with no Alpine teams – becomes a serious contender for gold in its speciality. Had a Nordic-only state championship been conducted last year, the Poudre boys would have been second and the girls would have been third. But, with no Alpine points, the boys placed ninth and the girls were 10th.

“It was a great move, because in reality there’s very little crossover between Alpine and Nordic,” said Kyle Steitz, Nordic coach at Poudre. “It’s kind of two different worlds. Now for my kids, it’s realistic to win state or finish in the top three. That provides some extra motivation and goals that they can strive for.”

Barth has helped direct the Summit boys to three straight overall state championships, and his Summit girls also won the overall state title last year.

On their own, his Alpine teams are among the top challengers this year.

“It’s going to be much more competitive on the Alpine side,” he said of the split to two championships. “I think there are six teams, boys and girls both, that could win.”

Likewise, Steitz and Poudre have lofty postseason hopes.

“Our boys and girls are both trending in the right direction,” he said of his highly ranked teams.

In addition to the classic and skate individual competitions, the Nordic championships will also feature a relay.

“Our boys team is incredibly deep,” Steitz said. “We can probably tell who the top four are for our girls relay, but I still have no idea who it will be for the boys.”

Summit’s Alpine contingent includes standouts such as Seth Montgomery, the boys state champion last year in both giant slalom and slalom.

“Seth is an amazing kid all around, as an athlete, as a student, and as a skier,” Barth said. “A lot of times the kids at the top of some of these lists only ski, but he plays other sports as well. … He’s incredibly focused on his training. He works hard outside of skiing in terms of being strong and fit and taking care of business. He’s an awesome kid and a really good leader.”

Several girls led lead the way for Summit, including Mackenzie Cross, Kilee Blakely and Kristiana Stoyanova.

“We’ve got a lot of depth,” Barth said. Mackenzie has been our top skier, and it’s been fun to watch. She’s matured a lot physically in terms of her focus. Krissie has had a really good career and it’s been fun to watch her wrap it up. And Kilee is actually our top point scorer (prior to the final competition).”

Poudre’s girls team is led by senior Ellayna Potter, while the top boys include Mattis Kemp, Keagan Oakes, Kanyon Schrom, Leo Tornatzky and Callen Solley.

For Poudre, the team draws athletes from several Fort Collins-based schools and often spends travel time just getting to places with snow to train. That includes ski workouts at competition sites the day before races as well as after the race has ended.

“We’re the first team to show up and the last team to leave,” Steitz said, laughing.

Steitz started Poudre’s Nordic program seven years ago, and interest in the sport there was already strong before the opportunity to compete for a state championship presented itself.

“Just to see how the program has grown has been great,” Steitz said. “There’s been lots of community support. We have 16 boys and 16 girls, which is a little smaller than in years past, but as we’ve had success the program has been selling itself. We’ve had great community support.

“We have a lot of long bus rides, but if you ask the kids later on, that’s usually their favorite part.”

While in general the top Nordic performers are known ahead of time, perhaps the most unpredictable part of the ski events is the slalom competition. The top three times count towards the team score.

“In ski racing you’re always right on the edge of blowing up,” Summit’s Barth said. “In slalom, you can hook a tip or disqualify quite easily. Slalom is always the one where you want more than three. If you have three really good ones, like a lot of teams do, you’re happy, but the fourth and fifth are the ones might be the ones who are more important. Because when you’re skiing at that speed and that tight of corners, it doesn’t take much to get it wrong.

“And you’re not winning if you’re not right on the edge.”