Twelve Durango Demon alpine skiers competed in the giant slalom state championships Thursday at Copper Mountain, and five of them placed in the top-20.
Junior Gracie Henning had Durango’s best finish, placing fifth with a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 50.77 seconds. Henning flew through the gates in 53.05 seconds in her first run, which was the fifth-fastest time and less than two seconds behind the leader, Stella Sherlock of Aspen (51.25).
Henning went a little slower on her second run, but stayed in fifth after posting a time of 57.72. Henning finished .01 seconds ahead of Ruthie DeMino of Battle Mountain and .06 behind Emma Bellatty of Middle Park. Sherlock held on to win the giant slalom title in 1:47.00.
Sophomore Lauren McClellan was the DHS girls’ next finisher, placing 14th out of 57 skiers in 1:54.45. McClellan’s first run through the gates took 55.49 seconds, and her second run was 58.96.
Junior Annabel Carithers finished 27th in 2:00.13, skiing runs of 57.89 and 1:02.24.
Senior Alaysia Cullum finished just after Carithers in 30th with a combined time of 2:00.52 (58.17 and 1:02.35).
Senior Ava McClellan also competed for the DHS girls, but did not finish. She will get a chance at redemption in Friday’s slalom championship. Eleven of the 12 DHS skiers who raced in the giant slalom championship will also race in slalom. Finn Scarpella and Dane Englund will also race slalom for DHS.
Three DHS boys also placed in the top-20 in giant slalom. Sophomore Holden Bronson placed 15th to lead the team, posting runs of 51.21 and 55.82 for a total time of 1:47.03.
Senior Barron Bronson was Durango’s next finisher, placing 16th out of 72 skiers in 1:49.02. Barron skied runs of 52.70 and 56.32.
Sophomore Zach Oliver also finished in the top-20, placing 20th in 1:50.01 with runs of 53.49 and 56.52.
Freshman Corbin Horrocks was Durango’s next finisher in 30th-place. Horrocks posted runs of 54.61 and 59.07 for a combined time of 1:53.68.
Sophomore Cole Kusar also laid down a pair of runs to place 40th for DHS in 1:59.85 (57.74 and 1:02.11).
Two other DHS boys competed in the giant slalom championship, but didn’t post times.
Senior Renic Vincent posted a first run of 55.16. He then skied his second run and initially placed 39th with a total of 1:56.51 but was later disqualified.
Junior Ian Fehr, who won the final regular-season slalom race at Winter Park last week, did not finish his first run. Fehr then posted a 1:00.26.
Vincent and Fehr, and the rest of the Demons, will get another chance Friday in the state slalom championships. Kusar is the only Demon who raced in the giant slalom that won’t compete in slalom.
Colin Kagan of Steamboat Springs laid down the fastest first run and fastest second run to win the giant slalom title by 2.50 seconds with a two-run time of 1:38.01.
The Nordic skiing skate state championships, which are included final team scores, also took place on Thursday. Ella Bullock of Lake County won the girls’ title in 17:53.47, averaging a 5:45-mile pace. Results from the boys’ race were unavailable at press time.
