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Battle Mountain repeats as girls Colorado state ski champions

Ella Bullock wins second consecutive individual Nordic title in exciting classic mass start

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Lindsey Whitton finished third in Friday's classic mass start race to help Battle Mountain win its second-straight state ski championship.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily

Fresh off winning a second-straight Colorado state ski team title, Battle Mountain Nordic coach Jeff Apps is already looking ahead.

“You know you never sit back,” he said after his team scored 620 points, 14 clear of runner-up Middle Park. “I always look to next year. All those girls are coming back.”

The youthful but dominant Huskies relied on their Nordic performances on Thursday and again in Friday’s 5K mass start classic, placing three in the top 11. State skimeister champion Lindsey Whitton rallied for third-place overall, one day after sniping second in the skate race. In both races she came right off the Alpine slope at Copper Mountain and blindly skied the challenging Frisco courses without any recon.

“She just absolutely crushed it both days. I don’t know how she did that and she’s so humble,” said Apps.

Assistant coach Christian Apps said he’s been spotting up on the most grueling parts of the course all year, and on Friday, he knew some outcomes before athletes even crossed the finish.

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“You can tell before they even finish, who your top skier will be based off how they’re performing at the hardest part of the course,” he said.

“Lindsey is just super calm under pressure, especially in the hardest parts of the course. I could tell she was going to have a high placement well before the finish.”

Kira Hower came through in ninth and another skimeister, Presley Smith, rounded out the scoring in 11th. Addison Beuche, who had placed fifth overall in Thursday’s skate race, placed 27th, but Apps was delighted to see the other girls rally.

Kira Hower double poles across the top of the course Friday in Frisco.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily

“That’s what’s cool. When you look at Molly and Presley, they saw it and stepped up,” he said. “You don’t coach that; you’re just gifted with it with these amazing kids. They just do it.”

Addison Beuche and Bella Williams of Battle Mountain and Ava Bergsten of Eagle Valley compete in Friday’s state ski meet in Frisco.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily

On the Alpine side, Julie Olsen led the way in seventh, followed by freshmen Ruthie DeMino and Keena Shikverg in 11th and 15th, respectively.

“Julie skied amazing today, and Ruthie was super consistent on both days,” said Alpine coach Erik Gilbert. DeMino also placed sixth in Thursday’s giant slalom. “And it’s sweet because we have enough depth that the third skier — any four or five of our kids could be the second or third point scorers.”

With the lead going into Friday, Gilbert didn’t burden his athletes with team scores beforehand.

“In Alpine racing, less is more. If you’re thinking about overall team scores, you’re not out there just skiing the race,” he said. “You don’t have time to think about what you’re doing when you’re actually doing what counts.”

When asked what bringing back the team’s core next year means, Apps said, “Is there a three-peat for state? Kinda … that would be the goal.” 

Colorado state ski meet girls overall team results
School Skate Classic GS Slalom Total
Battle Mt. 170 160 140 150 620
Middle Park 148 140 150 168 606
Steamboat 143 152 150 160 605
Aspen 138 134 173 156 601
Summit 156 148 147 146 597
Nederland 110 109 123 135 477
Lake County 158 164 107 40 469
Eagle Valley 116 118 86 67 387
Clear Creek 96 65 87 99 347
Poudre 130 144 0 0 274
Evergreen 30 31 122 88 271
Durango 0 0 144 81 225
Vail Mt. School 0 0 101 74 175
Platte Canyon 0 0 24 31 55
CRMS 0 0 0 0 0

Bullock and Hagen duke it out in mass start

Friday’s mass start classic race was a dual of the Ellas. Lake County sophomore Ella Bullock was attempting to go back-to-back, and Summit’s star Ella Hagen was trying to hold down the home course. Her gameplan for fending off Thursday’s state champion skate skier? Run up the steeps.

“That was definitely the strategy,” she said. “I know I’m not going to out-double-pole anyone, so I knew if I could just work those hills as hard as possible, that’s where I’d be able to do the best for myself.”

Ella Hagen of Summit and eventual champion Ella Bullock of Lake County reach the top of Friday’s classic mass start course. In the rear is Sylvia Brower, who would go on to finish second overall.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily

Summit’s nationally ranked distance runner went from sixth to first over the course of the Buzzsaw trail’s relentless climbs, jaunting up the herringbone sections with ease as she pulled even with Bullock at the top of the course. The Panther had something left for the downhills and remaining two kilometers, though.

“She’s just an amazing skier and has so much experience,” Hagen said of Bullock. “She got me (on the downhill) and then the double-pole — this finishing stretch was a grind.”

“I maybe didn’t have enough kick on the uphills, so Ella and Sylvia (Brower) were right with me the whole time, but I feel like it came in handy on the finish,” said Bullock, who came in first, 26-seconds clear of Brower in second. Battle Mountain’s Whitton would capture third, sneaking past Hagen by 7 seconds.

“I’m really proud of myself for sticking through it and working hard through the season,” Hagen said of her Nordic campaign as a whole. “I’m proud of my team and happy with how it played out. Getting to race so many fantastic people, it makes the winter really fun.”

When asked how it felt to snag back-to-back wins, Bullock, who is targeting Junior Nationals in Fairbanks, Alaska, in March, smiled and said, “It feels pretty good. But I still have a whole month of racing left.”

Devils post strong finish to Nordic season

Ava Bergsten strides up a climb early in Friday’s 5K classic mass start at the state ski championships in Frisco.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily

Ava and Emma Bergsten led Eagle Valley to an eighth-place team finish in both the overall standings and the Nordic-only team rankings on Friday. The sisters were 24th and 38th, respectively.

“It was pretty good. I was trying to start out slow, and it was jumbled at the start, which made it hard to get a good placing, but it wasn’t that bad,” Ava said. “I think what really made or break it is how you did on the hills. If you were walking up the hills, you were just not doing it.”

“The uphills were hard for me,” her sister added. “But then I got to the flat and my favorite part of classic is double-poling, so I was like, ‘this is my last race of the season.’ I just went really hard there, and I think I ended better than I started out.”

Addison Marsh rounded out the Devils’ scoring, finishing in 42nd in her final prep race.

“It was a mess at the start,” she said. “One girl lost her ski and it got under my ski — other than that, for a last senior race, it was pretty good.”

For Alpine and Nordic individual and team results, plus more photos, visit VailDaily.com.

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Colorado state Alpine ski meet individual results – slalom

Girls top 30

Pl  Bib  Class Team    Name                Run 1         Run 2        Result 
________________________________________________________________________________
1   490  So    SSP   Emma McHaffie         53.48 (1)     52.26 (2)   1:45.74 (1) 
2   188  Jr    MID   Olivia Niedzwiecki    54.50 (3)     51.86 (1)   1:46.36 (2) 
3   531  Jr    ASP   Sienna Hendrickson    55.35 (4)     52.36 (3)   1:47.71 (3) 
4   189  Jr    MID   Emma Bellatty         54.49 (2)     53.73 (5)   1:48.22 (4) 
5   505  Fr    SSP   Kinsley Jacobson      58.47 (7)     54.71 (6)   1:53.18 (5) 
6   430  Jr    SUM   Luci Brady            56.48 (5)     57.39 (16)  1:53.87 (6) 
7   60   Jr    BMH   Julia Olsen           58.35 (6)     56.04 (11)  1:54.39 (7) 
8   742  Jr    EVG   Lexi Ornstein         59.15 (11)    55.26 (7)   1:54.41 (8) 
9   186  Fr    MID   Ashley Bailey         59.01 (9)     55.79 (9)   1:54.80 (9) 
10  550  Sr    ASP   Chloe Smith           59.54 (14)    55.28 (8)   1:54.82 (10)
11  23   Fr    BMH   Ruthie DeMino         59.50 (13)    55.86 (10)  1:55.36 (11)
12  879  So    NED   Marley Farrior        59.61 (15)    56.64 (12)  1:56.25 (12)
13  421  Fr    SUM   Lauren McCalla        59.12 (10)    57.51 (17)  1:56.63 (13)
14  532  Sr    ASP   Madeline Hicks        59.34 (12)    57.32 (14)  1:56.66 (14)
15  68   Fr    BMH   Keena Shikverg        59.77 (16)    57.32 (14)  1:57.09 (15)
16  881  Sr    NED   Mazlan Finch        1:00.28 (17)    57.02 (13)  1:57.30 (16)
17  491  Sr    SSP   Audra Gowdy           58.81 (8)     59.26 (22)  1:58.07 (17)
18  187  So    MID   Rylie Riggs         1:00.91 (20)    58.37 (19)  1:59.28 (18)
19  429  Fr    SUM   Mackenzie Cross     1:01.49 (25)    58.22 (18)  1:59.71 (19)
20  423  Fr    SUM   Claire Jackson      1:00.55 (19)    59.41 (23)  1:59.96 (20)
21  427  So    SUM   Kristiana Stoyanov  1:01.18 (21)    59.17 (21)  2:00.35 (21)
22  537  Jr    ASP   Clare Irvin         1:01.96 (26)    59.12 (20)  2:01.08 (22)
23  549  Jr    ASP   Zala Smalls         1:01.44 (24)  1:00.13 (25)  2:01.57 (23)
24  963  So    DUR   Lauren McClellan    1:01.31 (22)  1:00.30 (26)  2:01.61 (24)
25  875  So    NED   Isla Jones          1:01.37 (23)  1:01.15 (28)  2:02.52 (25)
26  190  Fr    MID   Maggie Bellatty     1:03.67 (31)  1:00.07 (24)  2:03.74 (26)
27  900  Sr    NED   Ellie Boye          1:02.87 (28)  1:01.46 (29)  2:04.33 (27)
28  1    Fr    BMH   Thea Armistead      1:03.60 (30)  1:01.02 (27)  2:04.62 (28)
29  11   Jr    BMH   Maddie Brown        1:02.20 (27)  1:02.89 (36)  2:05.09 (29)
30  56   Jr    BMH   Emeline Mitchell    1:03.21 (29)  1:02.43 (34)  2:05.64 (30)
Colorado state Nordic ski meet individual results – 5k classic mass start

Girls top 30

Place, name, school, time, points
1 Ella Bullock LCHS 20:04.8 – 60
2 Sylvia Brower MPHS 20:32.9 – 59
3 Lindsey Whitton* BMHS 20:50.1 – 58
4 Ella Hagen SUM 20:57.2 – 57
5 Brynna Lenhard LCHS 21:07.1 – 56
6 Dixie Barnes SSHS 21:31.3 – 55
7 Wren Capra SSHS 21:44.2 – 54
8 Annika Beighey PSD 21:44.9 – 53
9 Kira Hower BMHS 21:49.6 – 52
10 Michaela Kenney ASP 22:03.6 – 51
11 Presley Smith* BMHS 22:04.0 – 50
12 Julia Diaz ASP 22:09.6 – 49
13 Clara Kirr* LCHS 22:10.3 – 48
14 Emily Doerfler PSD 22:11.5 – 47
15 Violet Hill LCHS 22:23.2
16 Niamh Nelson SUM 22:33.9 – 46
17 Molly Reeder BMHS 22:40.5
18 Katherine Williams SUM 22:45.2 – 45
19 Ella Whitman PSD 22:56.3 – 44
20 Clara Statkus PSD 22:59.5
21 Keira King* LCHS 23:08.6
22 Fiona Florio SUM 23:13.2
23 Autumn Oslowski SSHS 23:13.3 – 43
24 Ava Bergsten EVHS 23:13.8 – 42
25 Ellayna Potter PSD 23:16.7
26 Bella Williams BMHS 23:16.8
27 Addison Beuche BMHS 23:19.9
28 Novella Light SSHS 23:27.6
29 Liliane Zygulski SUM 23:36.3
30 Gabrielle Pellini MPHS 23:37.2 – 41

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