TRR photo by Richard A. Ross Haley Heins (89.63) of Monticello finished fourth at the Section Nine Alpine Ski Championships and is heading back to states.

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.

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Track

Perfect storm

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LOCH SHELDRAKE, NY - “The West is the best… get here and we’ll do the rest,” sang Jim Morrison in the “The End,” a classic by The Doors.

Decades later, the same phrase now applies to the Sullivan West girls indoor track team.

After capping off a perfect 21-0 Division V season, winning the title with a final sweep at West Point, the Westies defended their Sullivan County Championship title on February 4 by out-pointing rival Tri-Valley 127-116.

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Basketball

Never surrender

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LOCH SHELDRAKE, NY— “Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light,” wrote Dylan Thomas in a poem imploring his father to fight on against cancer.

Everywhere you look nowadays, it’s mortal combat.

In the battle against this universal foe that does not discriminate by age, gender or nationality, there are countless warriors, casualties and survivors. Indeed, few people’s lives are left untouched.

Battling cancer requires courage, support, will and hope.

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Also in this issue:

• ‘K’ day
• Rays of hope