Alpine champions crowned at Kirkwood

Courtesy of Harry Lefrak / Lefrakphotography.com
KIRKWOOD, Calif. — The high school alpine racing season came to an end this week at Kirkwood Mountain Resort with the Tahoe Basin Ski League state championships.
The top prep skiers from around the region made their way to Kirkwood for two days of slalom and giant slalom racing.
The state championships kicked off Tuesday with giant slalom on Kirkwood’s Short Spoke run. North Tahoe’s Samantha Milne led the Lakers to the team giant slalom state title, capturing first place with a combined time of 1 minute, 39.62 seconds, edging second place by 0.15 seconds. Milne posted the second fastest first run of the morning before putting down the fastest second run to secure the individual state championship.
Teammate Esme Roberts finished on the podium in third place with a total time of 1:44.2. Regan Clute took fourth place with a combined time of 1:44.8, and Addison Jones gave the Lakers four skiers in the top five with her total time of 1:46.6 to take fifth place. The Lakers also had Siduri Dunning take eighth with a total time of 1:50.5, and Maren Plumb finish 10th with a combined time of 1:51.8.
The Lakers wouldn’t find the same success the following day as a number of their top skiers missed the state slalom event in favor of other ski competitions. Jones led the three-skier North Tahoe team with a combined time of 1:21.76 to take fourth place. Dunning finished with a total time of 1:23.56 to claim fifth place.
The North Tahoe girls’ team also were the league’s regional champions.
The Truckee girls won the team slalom title behind a first-place finish by Amber Hansford. The Truckee senior captured the individual title with a combined time of 1:13:07. Hansford was the runner-up in giant slalom, which gave her enough points to secure the combined state championship as well. Hansford was the giant slalom champion in 2022 as well.
Truckee’s Ellie Peterson finished in third place in slalom with a combined time of 1:13.07.
The Incline girls won the combined team state championship.
On the boys’ side, Truckee’s Luca Peterson put together an outstanding two days of racing, throwing down three of the four fastest runs of the championships to claim the giant slalom, slalom, and combined state titles.
Peterson led a one-two punch for the Wolverines to open the state championships on Tuesday, finishing with a combined time of 1:37.63 to claim first place in giant slalom. Teammate Aidan Peterson was second with a combined time of 1:42.6. As a team, the Truckee boys took second place in giant slalom.
Luca Peterson matched Tuesday’s slalom win with another in giant slalom, finishing the race with a combined time of 1:07.78 to claim first place. Teammate Carson Koch was runner-up with a total time of 1:10.66. Jason Hoy-Plank took seventh for Truckee with a combined time of 1:16.43. As a team, the Wolverines finished third in slalom.
The North Tahoe boys captured team wins in giant slalom, slalom, and were the combined state champions.
North Tahoe’s Curtis Edmunds led the Lakers in giant slalom with a total time of 1L42.7 to take third place. Edmunds was also fourth in slalom with a combined time of 1:12.90.
Luke Buchanan led the team in slalom, finishing with a combined time of 1:10.86 to take third place. Buchanan was fourth in giant slalom with a total time of 1:43.0.
North Tahoe’s Macallan Rocco took fifth place in giant slalom with a combined time of 1:43.3. The Lakers also had Jackson Sanford finish sixth in giant slalom with a combined time of 1:44.8, and fifth in slalom with a total time of 1:13.05. Andrew Van Prooyen took seventh place in giant slalom with a combined time of 1:46.3, and Rory Turk took ninth in slalom with a total time of 1:21.11.
The North Tahoe boys’ team finished the year as the league’s regional champions.
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