Photo: Gray Barker skates in last week’s competition at Aspen. Barker placed 13th.  Photo by Jeff Russell

Skiing on a tough course in Aspen on Saturday, both the boys and girls Nordic ski teams took third place in a sanctioned Colorado High School Ski League race.

Sylvia Brower skiing to a 5th place finish at last weekend’s competition in Aspen. Photo by Jeff Russell

For the girls, Freshman Sylvia Brower was the top Panther skier, taking fifth place overall and skiing the 5-K course in 19:49, 45 seconds behind the race winner, Emma Marsness of Aspen. Aspen and Battle Mountain were the top two teams in the event.

Other top Panther skiers were Elizabeth Hammond in 10th place, with a time of 20:41, followed by Maggie Barker in 33rd place with a time of 24:18. Other Middle Park finishers for the girls were: Ellen Osborne, 41st (25:29); Sierra Jamison 47th (26:25); and Selena Stoncius, 52nd (27:53).

For the boys team, Sebastian Brower was the top Panther skier in 8th place with a time of 16:59. Kimo Sullivan was close behind Brower with a 9th place finish and a time of 17:05. Alex Holinka was next for the Panthers with a time in 11th place (17:14), followed closely by Graydon Walker in 13th (17:30).

The boys’ race was won by Taiga Moore of Aspen. The two team in first and second were Aspen and Steamboat.

Other Panther finishers for the boys were: Ethan Callarman, 16th (17:53); Gray Barker, 19th (18:08); Guy Granger, 20th (18:13); Vinny Troccoli 27th (18:32); Kyle Vogelbacher, 45th (20:19); Will Kuhns, 54th (20:36); Andy Troccoli, 68th (21:34); Calvin Ciccarelli, 71st (21:49); Ewan Gallagher, 72nd (21:50); Chance Hein, 77th (22:43); and Jack Nesvara, 103rd (32:57).

The Panthers travel to Steamboat Springs this weekend for another Colorado High School Ski League event before the state meet Feb. 27 and 28 in Minturn, Colo.

East Grand Middle School Nordic team competes in Aspen 

The East Grand Middle School Nordic ski team put in a 3rd place finish for the boys and a 4th place finish for the girls at the Aspen middle school race Feb. 8.

The top skier for the girls was Peyton Fosha with an 11th place finish and a time of 15 minutes, 27 seconds on the three-kilometer course, skied in the skating (freestyle) technique. Other top skiers for the girls were Haley Miller with a 17th place finish and time of 16:29. Anna Lantermans was next for East Grand with a time of 17:112. Paige Vecchiarelli came in 26th (19:31) while Sabra Forquer came in 27th (25:41).

The East Grand Middle School boys featured Dane Jensen as their top skier. He finished the course in 12:54 and was in 8th place. Next for the Cubs was Carter Chamberlin in 15th place (13:47), followed closely by David Hammond in 16th (14:09), and Kadin Starr in 17th (14:15).

Other East Grand finishers were: Alek Guziur, 20th (14:33); and Patrick McCay, 31st (18:01).

The Aspen race was the last official race for the Cubs this season although there is an optional race for the East Grand skiers in Steamboat this weekend.

The young East Grand team showed lots of improvement and determination during its 2019-20 season, said the team’s coaching staff.