The Durango High School ski teams were back in action last weekend, as the alpine team visited Winter Park for slalom races while the Nordic team competed in Aspen.
The highlight of the weekend for the Demons came in the boys 5-kilometer classic Nordic race. The Demons placed third with 152 points, while host Aspen won with 170 points. Summit County was second with 165 points. Vail Mountain’s Cameron Wolfe won the race in 15 minutes, 40 seconds, while Aspen’s Everett Olson was second in 16:08.
Durango was led by Logan Moore, who finished fourth in 16:35. Also for Durango, Noah Bodewes (18:38) was 20th and Cobe Freeburn (18:50) was 21st.
The Durango girls team finished 13th out of 14 teams in the Nordic race. Aspen and Battle Mountain tied with 165 points, while Durango scored 72 points. Halle Moore led the DHS girls in 18th with a time of 22:43, while Summit County’s Tai-Lee Smith won in 19:39.
The Durango boys put together a sixth-place finish in the alpine slalom race at Winter Park. The Demons scored 134 points. Nederland won with 173 points, led by senior Reece Titus, who won with a two-run combined time of 1:33.06. The young Demons were paced by freshman Levi Tichi, who finished 10th in 1:49.95. Blake Ridgway, another freshman, was 29th in 2:30.30, while sophomore Jian Cohen was 31st in 2:46.81. Freshman Metz Ryder rounded out the DHS finishers in 32nd in 2:49.50.
The DHS girls had one alpine competitor in Claudia Luthy. The junior had a two-run time of 2:09.38 to finish 24th. Middle Park freshman Sofia Olsson won in 1:40.89 to edge teammate Bethanie Droll by nearly a full second. Evergreen won the girl’s team event with 167 points, while Nederland was second with 166 and Middle Park was third with 165.
Durango’s Nordic team will compete Saturday in Steamboat Springs in a skate race. The alpine team will compete Thursday at Ski Cooper in a giant slalom.
Durango will host the CHSAA state championships Feb. 21-22.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
