Kirkwood ski team strong in final race

Several Carson Valley athletes finished strong to end the racing season for the Kirkwood Ski Team.

Among the stars was Bryce Wehan, who came away with a title in the giant slalom.

Brian Sergott and Andrew Solomon, both competing in the J4 division (11-12-year-olds), finished strong to end the season at the J4/J5 Championships held in Mammoth. There were close to 80 athletes in the J4 and J5 girls and boys races.

Sergott and Solomon are both from Gardnerville and attend Minden Elementary School. Sergott placed 36th in the super giant slalom and after injuring his ankle in a fall in the giant slalom, placed 45th in the slalom.

Solomon took 44th in the giant slalom and had two top 60 results in the super G and the slalom. In the girls races, Hillary Sapp, of Gardnerville finished 39th and 44th in the giant slalom and 33rd in the slalom in the J5 division (ages 9-10).

"All of the athletes had a strong finish to their season and showed improvement from the first race of the year to this championship race," Kirkwood J4/5 coach Mark Payne said. "It was also great to see the athletes within our team push each other to do their best."

At the J1/2/3 Championships, three Gardnerville J3 athletes had strong finishes in the 13-14-year-old division. Wehan, of Pa-Wau-Lu Middle School, finished sixth in the first downhill race and brought home two bronze medals in the downhill and super G and first in the giant slalom.

Nick Cohee of Carson Valley Middle School, finished 19th and 27th in the downhill, 31st in the super G, 22nd in the giant slalom and 12th in the slalom. Holden Sapp, of Carson Valley Middle School, had his best finishes of the season with 17th and 28th in the downhill, ninth in both the super G and giant slalom and 20th in the slalom.

"The athletes really skied well," Kirkwood program director Kiza Bitton said. "They pulled through and finished the season strong."

"It has been a long season for all of these athletes and I am really proud of how they raced," Kirkwood coach Tim Kawcak also said. "They had some of their best finishes of the season. Now they get a break from skiing until summer camp in July."