Local skiers strong in Junior Olympics

Corinne Rotter, Nick Cohee, Bryce Wehan and Devon Anderson all represented the Carson Country area well last week at the Western Regional Junior Olympic alpine skiing championships in Mt. Hood, Ore.

Wehan, of Gardnerville, came away with a medal in the slalom, finishing third out of 115 skiers in the J3 division for 13-14-year-old boys. Wehan competes for the Kirkwood ski team

"It was great for Bryce, a first year J3, to bring home a medal," Kirkwood coach Tim Kawcak said.

Rotter, of Carson City, placed ninth out of 72 competitors in the slalom in the J3 girls division. Among 13-year-olds, Rotter took third in the event. Rotter skies for Reno's Sage Ridge School.

Wehan also placed 17th in the super giant slalom. Rotter took 23rd in the giant slalom and 37th in the super G.

Also in the J3 division, Cohee had top 50 finishes in the slalom and giant slalom and Anderson, of Carson City, took 42nd in the super G. Anderson competes for the Diamond Peak ski team.

Others to compete at the Junior Olympics for Kirkwood were Erik Sambrailo, Shelby Hawthorne, Katie Sawaya and Jennifer Champ.

"It was really exciting to have six of our athletes selected to these events," Kirkwood program director Liza Bitton said. "I am proud of how hard they worked to get there and how well they skied."

"The kids were aggressive and they fought hard in extremely though snow conditions," Kawcak also said.