Skiing

State of the art

Five Sullivan County skiers emerge from Section Nine Alpine Ski Championships bound for states

By RICHARD A. ROSS

HUNTER, NY — It was a day tailor made for skiing. Bright sun, puffy white clouds and moderate temperatures greeted the top 80 skiers from Section Nine who had qualified for the alpine ski championships on February 9.

With a prior trip to Hunter Mountain under their belts and last weekend’s preparation at Belleayre Mountain courtesy of the facility and its instructors, the 40 boys and 40 girls took two runs on the giant slalom course in the morning and two on the slalom course in the afternoon. Their best runs from each were combined. That total accounted for 75 percent of their scoring to go along with 25 percent accorded by their seasonal ranking to date.

The results were most impressive. Brad Merrill of Kingston (76.84) narrowly beat out Vincent Corrado of Tuxedo (77.28) to garner the Section Nine boys title. Charlie Agro of Monroe-Woodbury was third, William Dutcher of Monroe-Woodbury was fourth and defending champ Jesse Anser of Warwick was fifth.

The top 12 skiers advance to states, which will be held at Bristol Mountain in Canandaigua on February 24 and 25. Those elite skiers include John Bernstein of Fallsburg/Tri-Valley, who finished eighth (82.79). Skiing with a brace pending knee surgery scheduled for later this month, Bernstein overcame a huge fall on a g/s run to come back and qualify for states. Monticello’s Richard Heins (83.03) finished ninth and qualified for states as well.

In the girls race, Brianna Kullberg of Cornwall (82.23) dethroned reigning champion Marlise Combe of Onteora (84.40), who finished second. Lindsey Argo of Monroe Woodbury was third. Monticello’s Haley Heins (89.63) finished fourth and will return to states. Kendra Erts of Fallsburg/Tri-Valley took 10th in 94.62 to earn a berth at states. Sullivan West’s Kassie Thelman, who qualified for sectionals for the third straight year, will be heading back to states as well. She took 12th in 95.38.

Other Sullivan County skiers who competed at the Section Nine Championships included Ryan Heins (Monticello), Alex Lander and Drew Billard (Sullivan West), Weston Currey (Fallsburg/Tri-Valley), Ryan Erts (Fallsburg/Tri-Valley), Kris Ramos (Liberty) and Brian Tedaldi (Monticello).

The county’s girl competitors included Devinne Dupuy and Rachel Klein (Monticello), Sarah Coney (Fallsburg/Tri-Valley), Lauren Elliot (Fallsburg/Tri-Valley), Kellee Thelman (Sullivan West), Taylor Knapp and Rebecca Wood (Monticello).

Visit riverreportersports.com for complete results and an album of hundreds of photos from the championships.