North Tahoe senior Nina Burt captured gold in giant slalom at today’s California-Nevada Interscholastic Ski and Snowboard Federation snowboard state championships.

Mount Shasta senior Tate Harkness held more than a 5-second lead after the first run at Northstar California Resort, but crashed near the bottom of her second run, keeping Burt in first place. Harkness’ first run time of 39.41 seconds was the fastest of the morning, regardless of gender. The fastest boy was Colfax rider Tyler Suddjian, who finished his first run with a time of 43.51.

“I feel bad,” said Burt. “She’s really good. (Harkness) definitely deserved it more than I did.”

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Burt finished with a combined time of 1:31.56 to win this year’s giant slalom title, which brings the top racers from the federation’s two snowboarding division’s. Oak Ridge sophomore Skylar Gray was second with a total time of 1:32.46. Foothill’s Clara Lindsay was third with a total time of 1:37.51.

From there, Truckee riders Ashley Parisi (1:37.65) and Morgan Just (1:40.22) took fourth and fifth, respectively.

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Colfax rider Suddjian defends GS gold

On the boys’ side, Colfax junior Tyler Suddjian defended last year’s giant slalom state championship, finishing today’s event with the two fastest runs

“Today was a lot better than I expected,” said Suddjian on the course conditions. “I had raced here about two weeks ago and it was all solid ice, so today, definitely, was a lot better. That last snow we had, that’s what made a huge impact.”

Suddjian finished today’s giant slalom race in first place, claiming the state title by more than a second with a total time of 1:27.99.

“It means a lot to me,” said Suddjian, who won the combined state title last year. “It’s definitely one of my goals that I’ve been looking forward to all season.”

Suddjian has been dominant during the regular season, winning five of the six races this year. He said the regular season success created a lot of pressure as he stood atop his first giant slalom run this morning.

“It was a little nerve-racking in the beginning,” he said. “I was definitely eyeing up the competition.”

Pleasant Valley’s Tyler Mays was second with a total time of 1:29.34. Truckee’s Zac Kuch was third with a combined time of 1:30.42. Mount Shasta’s Ethan Weaver took fourth place with a total time of 1:31.18. Truckee’s George Skaff was fifth place with a total time of 1:31.75.

The state championships will shift to slalom racing tomorrow. The competition will begin at 10 a.m. at Northstar.

*This post will be updated with team results.