Prep notebook: Colorado High School Ski League season gets underway
Vail Christian and Vail Mountain School faced off in girls and boys basketball

David Clifford/Courtesy photo
The Colorado High School Ski League season began last Thursday and Friday. The Battle Mountain, Vail Mountain School and Eagle Valley Nordic teams contested a 5-kilometer individual start classic race in Aspen on Friday while the Alpine side of the equation competed in a slalom at Loveland on Thursday.
The Battle Mountain girls won the Alpine team competition as junior Ruthie DeMino finished second, one-second behind Durango winner Mathilde Roskam. The Huskies put three in the top-10, with Thea Armistead and Keena Shikverg finishing sixth and 10th, respectively. Battle Mountain and Eagle Valley finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the boys Alpine team competition.

Vail Mountain School’s Isla Elton took the win in Aspen, taking down two-time state champion Ella Bullock of Lake County. Elton covered the challenging Aspen High School course in 19 minutes, 12 seconds, as Bullock — her Ski and Snowboard Club Vail teammate — came in second (19:35). Summit’s Ella Hagen (20:28) rounded out the podium in the 85-person field as Lake County took the team title. Battle Mountain finished third, led by Ruthie DeMino’s 11th-place finish, while VMS took eighth and Eagle Valley finished in 10th.

Summit took three of the top four spots in the boys competition to handily win the team title as well. Eagle Valley placed third overall, with Jonah Barber taking sixth out of 96 skiers. Vail Mountain School’s Tyler Ciluzzi placed eighth overall and Kai Skellion led the Huskies into ninth with a 28th-place result.
The Alpine season continues with the Eagle Valley and Vail Mountain School-hosted giant slalom at Beaver Creek on Jan. 17. The Nordic teams will be at Spring Gulch in Carbondale on Wednesday for an individual skate start.

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Boys top-10
- Carter Niemkiewicz, Summit – 15:34.7
- James Sowers, Summit – 16:01.0
- Charlie Wiedel, Steamboat – 17:35.9
- John Ryan, Summit – 17:41.5
- Mattis Kemp, Poudre – 17:48.1
- Jonah Barber, Eagle Valley – 17:53.4
- Callen Solley, Poudre – 18:09.6
- Tyler Ciluzzi, Vail Mountain – 18:11.9
- Brody Henning, Summit – 18:14.5
- Josh Shriver, Summit – 18:20.5
Girls top-10
- Isla Elton, Vail Mountain – 19:12.0
- Ella Bullock, Lake County – 19:35.0
- Ella Hagen, Summit – 20:28.0
- Ellayna Potter, Poudre – 20:34.0
- Finnley Stanek, Lake County – 21:10.0
- Elsie Robinson, Summit – 21:19.0
- Aimee Lenhard, Lake County – 21:38.0
- Kate Goldfarb, Aspen – 21:41.0
- Lyza Zoller, Lake County – 21:01.0
- Marin Little, Summit – 22:25.0
Boys team scores
- Summit – 228
- Poudre – 208
- Eagle Valley – 181
- Lake County – 174
- Middle Park – 154
- Steamboat Springs – 137
- Aspen – 127
- Vail Mountain – 126
- Battle Mountain – 120
- CRMS – 118
- Nederland – 96
- Evergreen – 78
- Clear Creek – 68
Girls team scores
- Lake County – 221
- Summit – 211
- Battle Mountain 176
- Middle Park – 166
- Steamboat Springs – 165
- Poudre – 155
- Aspen – 151
- Vail Mountain – 142
- Nederland – 102
- Eagle Valley – 102
- CRMS – 84
- Clear Creek – 62
- Evergreen – 0
Colorado High School Ski League – Loveland slalom (Jan. 9)
Girls team results
- Battle Mountain – 165 [three scorers: Ruthie DeMino (second), Thea Armistead (sixth), Keena Shikverg (10th)]
- Aspen – 162
- Steamboat Springs – 161
- Durango – 160
- Eagle Valley – 138 [three scorers: McKinley Packert (28th), Holly Berghauer (32nd), Kalina Ivanov (37th)]
- Vail Mountain School – 54 [Gracie Cohn (seventh)]
- Platte Canyon – 44
Boys team results
- Steamboat Springs – 173
- Durango – 164
- Aspen – 160
- Battle Mountain – 157 [(Gabriel Hychalk (seventh), Teagan Larsen (14th), Gabe Dozois (16th)]
- Eagle Valley – 140 [Tage TerBush (21st), Cayden Spiegel (27th), Thomas Tvarkunas (29th)]
- Platte Canyon – 133
Basketball notes

- The Eagle Valley boys basketball team is on a seven-game winning streak after taking down Palisade 72-64 last Thursday and Rifle 78-43 on Saturday. Dylan Zoller dropped 18 and 22 points in each of the two victories to lead the Devils, who improved to 10-2 and are ranked ninth in 5A.
- The Eagle Valley girls basketball team improved to 6-5 after defeating Rifle 60-24 on Saturday. Addison Mandeville and Zakia Shreeve led the way with 15 and 12 points, respectively, in the road victory. The Devils are at Grand Junction Central on Tuesday before returning to Gypsum to face Evergreen on Thursday night.
- Evergreen defeated Battle Mountain 81-43 on Saturday in Edwards. The Huskies fell to 2-4 overall heading into Tuesday’s matchup against Vail Mountain School.


- The Gore Rangers improved to 5-2 after beating Vail Christian 72-51 on Friday and Caprock Academy 52-49 on Saturday. Charlie Vidal scored 22 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in the win over Caprock Academy. Cole Lewis added a double-double as well, with 12 points and 12 boards for Vail Mountain School, which is 2-0 in league play.

- The Vail Mountain School girls basketball team also defeated Vail Christian last Friday. Abby Adochio scored nine points and Izzy Adochio and Kiana Garcia each chipped in eight apiece in the 32-23 win. The Gore Rangers improved to 2-0 in league play and 2-6 overall, while the Saints dropped to 2-4. The Saints are at West Grand on Friday while the Gore Rangers travel to Edwards to face Battle Mountain on Tuesday.
- The Battle Mountain girls team is on a three-game winning streak after defeating Lotus School For Excellence 53-3 on Jan. 9, Monument Academy 47-5 on Jan. 10 and Ascent Classical Academy Northern Colorado (ACANC) 47-32 on Jan. 11. Elle Glendining led the Huskies in the last of the three-game weekend set, scoring 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field. Kate Kovacik chipped in 13 points and Izzy Kovacik added five assists and five steals.
