The Durango High School alpine ski team competed in its final slalom race of the regular season on Friday at Winter Park and ended with an exclamation point.
Ian Fehr won the race for Durango with a combined time of 1 minute, 31.99 seconds. Fehr was in second place after his first run of 47.19, but his second run of 44.80 was the fastest of the day, helping him move into first and win the competition.
“What an amazing finish to the regular season at the Winter Park slalom,” said head coach Jill Carithers. “The conditions were perfect and we had some amazing performances.”
Three other DHS boys also finished in the top-10.
Finn Scarpella placed sixth (1:37.22), Renic Vincent placed eighth (1:39.23) and Barron Bronson finished 10th (1:40.48).
Zach Oliver was in 10th after his first run and had a clean second run, but got disqualified. “We asked for a referee report but I still have not seen one,” the coach said.
Annabel Carithers led the DHS girls, placing 10th in 1:47.50. Lauren McClellan finished 11th in 1:47.52 while Alaysia Cullum finished 17th in 1:51.25 to snag the final state spot. Vincent also added his name to Durango’s state roster with his performance.
The men finished second as a team behind Steamboat Springs, but the mysterious disqualification might have changed that. The coach also said the DHS girls “did really well too,” but had a skier straddle a gate and another miss a gate during their second runs.
Fourteen Durango Demons have now qualified for the state championships, which will be held on Thursday and Friday at Copper Mountain, including five girls and nine boys.
Athletes that have qualified in both slalom and giant slalom include Annabel Carithers, Cullum, Lauren McClellan, Ava McClellan, Gracey Henning, Barron Bronson, Holden Bronson, Fehr, Corbin Horrocks, Zach Oliver and Vincent. Finn Scarpella and Dane Englund also qualified in slalom while Cole Kusar qualified in giant slalom.
