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Truckee’s Zac Kuch rides to first win of season, North Tahoe’s Nina Burt remains unbeaten (VIDEO)

top-five times

Boys

Zac Kuch (Truckee) – 1:07.36

Kooper Kijanka (Davis) – 1:10.17

Tommy Ryan (Davis) – 1:11.43

George Skaff (Truckee) – 1:18.56

Sebastian Hall (Truckee) – 1:19.79

Girls

Nina Burt (North Tahoe) – 1:12.05

Morgan Just (Truckee) – 1:12.11

Faith Mora (Colfax) – 1:15.55

Hazel Kyle (Nevada Union) – 1:22.09

Ashley Parisi (Truckee) – 1:22.34

Poor visibility and the toughest course of the season, thus far, greeted riders on Tuesday at Boreal Mountain California for the third round of high school slalom racing in the California-Nevada Interscholastic Ski and Snowboard Federation.

Snowfall, low visibility, and icy sections on Boreal’s Race Course sent many riders crashing to the snow during the two runs of boys and girls’ racing, while those who managed the course were rewarded with top finishes.

“This is definitely the toughest course I’ve been on all year due to the weather and how steep it is,” said Truckee junior Zac Kuch. “It was a little rough. At the top it was kind of gnarly because you couldn’t see anything. It was really icy at the top … the snow was bad, but I was able to handle it and get through it.”



Kuch picked up his first win of the season behind the day’s fastest time on the blue course and third fastest on the red course. He finished with a total time of 1 minute, 7.36 seconds.

“My strategy was to just really hold my edge, stay as tight as I can, carry as much speed through the flat bottom as I could, and really try to bend my knees so I could get through all of those bumps,” said Kuch. “I just tried to stay low, stay tight.”



Truckee junior Zac Kuch’s winning run at Boreal Mountain California.

The winner of the first two races of the season, Colfax rider Tyler Suddjian, was in line to possibly remain unbeaten after his first run on the red course, but a crash on the blue course dropped him to 10th place. The crash also opened a window for Davis to pick up its first team win of the season with a high score of 382 points.

The Truckee boys finished six points behind Davis, taking second place as a team. The Wolverines also had senior George Skaff finish in fourth place with total time of 1:18.56, and Sebastian Hall finish in fifth place with a total time of 1:19.79.

Competing with a limited number of skiers on the boys’ team, North Tahoe finished in last place out of the six teams with 195 points. Adrian Swallow led the Lakers with a total time of 1:38.45 for 26th place. The team’s top rider, Cali Vail posted the third fastest time on the blue course, but was unable to put together a clean run on the red course.

“To every rider out here, I appreciate you coming out,” Kuch said on the number of crashes. “This is the gnarliest course that we’ve been through. I’m glad you guys all made it out without serious injuries.”

North Tahoe’s Burt remains unbeaten

North Tahoe senior Nina Burt and her team remained undefeated on the slopes this season as Burt picked up her third individual win while leading the Lakers to a third straight victory as a team.

Burt posted the top time on the red slalom course at Boreal and the second fastest run on the blue course to finish with a combined time of 1:12.05.

Truckee senior Morgan Just was just off the lead, finishing 0.06 behind Burt for second place. Just had the second fastest run on the red course and fastest time on the blue course.

As a team, North Tahoe edged Colfax by two points with a high score of 370 points. The Lakers also had senior Cami Carter take ninth place with a total time of 1:29.43, and junior Bailey Haas take 10th place with a total time of 1:33.25.

The Truckee girls finished in third place with 350 points, and also had senior Ashley Parisi claim fifth place with a total time of 1:22.34.

High school alpine snowboard racing will continue on Monday with a round of slalom at Alpine Meadows.

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


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