Individual and team state championships were on the line last week at Alpine Meadows, bringing the area’s top high school alpine skiers to the slopes for rounds of giant slalom and slalom.

North Tahoe senior Trent Carter and Truckee freshman Amber Hansford walked away champions of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association Tahoe Basin Ski League, achieving the rare feat of claiming triple gold by winning giant slalom, slalom, and combined.

Carter won Wednesday’s giant slalom by more than a second, topping teammate Luke Buchanan and Truckee’s Tyler Lamperti.

“Just pinning it to win it,” said Carter on throwing down the day’s fastest combined time on the course off of Alpine Meadows’ Yellow lift. “Full send. I’m really stoked.”

Racing then shifted to slalom the next day, and again Carter couldn’t be caught, posting a combined time of 1:21.04 to claim the slalom title by nearly 2 seconds. The result also gave the Lakers senior the combined state championship.

From there, skiers from North Tahoe posted the next five fastest times to claim the team title. Toby Gajar (1:23.15) was second, Oliver Fralick (1:24.56) was third, Luke Buchanan (1:25.61) was fourth, Jackson Sanford (1:25.90) was fifth, and Rhett Lindsey (1:27.52) was sixth. The Lakers also had Norm Kitching (1:34.95) in eighth and Bodie Hudson (1:37.53) in 10th as part of posting eight of the 10 fastest combined times.

As a team the Lakers have now won four straight slalom titles, five straight giant slalom titles, and four straight combined titles.

On the girls’ side, Truckee’s Hansford followed up her win in giant slalom on Wednesday by racing to a slalom state championship the following day. Hansford put down the fastest first run of the day and second fastest final run to finish with a total time of 1:23.92. The win also gave the Truckee freshman the combined state title.

Incline’s Rose Heffren (1:24.61) was second, followed by North Tahoe’s Kacey Benjaminson (1:24.84) in third place.

The Wolverines also had Kate Kelly (1:24.90) take fourth, Audrey Rawson (1:26.98) take eight, and Haley Flaherty (1:30.13) take 10th to edge North Tahoe by two points for the team title in what turned out to be one of the closest girls’ state championships in decades.

“In my 29 years of coaching high school ski racing I have never seen a closer state championship competition,” said Truckee Coach Pat Mooney in an email. “The girls overcame an incredibly strong North Tahoe team today to win the slalom state championship.”

The result also gave the Wolverines the combined team title. Truckee and North Tahoe tied for the giant slalom team championship.

The Lakers other top slalom racers included, Paige McGarry (1:25.76) in sixth place, Aliza Neu (1:26.28) in seventh place, and Taylor Brook (1:28.84) in ninth place.

Justin Scacco is a reporter for the Sierra Sun. Contact him at jscacco@sierrasun.com or 530-550-2643.