Like all the other schools, the Carson High boys and girls ski teams are ready for the upcoming season. The problem is, the season isn't ready for Carson and the other schools.
Carson just had its first practice on Wednesday in preparation for a season that begins today and officially starts this Wednesday. With a lack of snow, the conditions have obviously been less than favorable as the Senators headed to Homewood for their first practice on Wednesday.
"The conditions are bad," Carson coach Jack Reinhardt said. "It's like spring skiing. There's rocks everywhere. It's pretty bizarre."
Reinhardt said it will be strange for his skiers to compete in a race for the first time today at Alpine Meadows when they haven't had a chance to train with gates. Carson will join all the other schools from the Tahoe Basin League - South Tahoe, North Tahoe, Truckee, Douglas, Incline and Whittell - for their race. While the event will be a league race for those schools, it will be just a training race for the Senators.
Carson will open its Sierra League season this Wednesday at Kirkwood against Rite of Passage. For the second straight year, schools from the Tahoe-Basin League will join teams from the Sierra and High Desert Leagues competing for spots in the NIAA State Championships.
The top two teams from each league will advance to the state meet. Schools from the Tahoe-Basin League should have somewhat of an advantage over schools from the Sierra and High Desert Leagues since many of their skiers generally do much more training.
The Senators will also be hard pressed to qualify for state as they will have to battle traditional power Reno High and Sage Ridge Academy, which has a number of top skiers, in the Sierra League.
Reinhardt also said he has a young team with a large number of freshmen. He has a total of close to 40 skiers.
"It's a rebuilding year," Reinhardt said. "We don't have a whole lot of depth. We've got a couple of athletes that are exceptional. We've got really good kids. They want to work. They want to be there."
As always the case, Carson's ski teams are are also strong academically. "They're off the charts," said Reinhardt about his skiers' academics.
But Carson will be missing some of their best athletes in today's race who are also training for the upcoming state swimming championships to be hosted by the Carson Tigersharks at the Carson Aquatic Facility. They include Tatum Boehnke, Julia Lapham and Kevin Dyer.
Boehnke is the younger sister of Mats Boehnke, who has won state titles for Carson in the past, but has moved up to compete in USA Skiing Far West events.
"Mat's exceptional," Reinhardt said. "That guy's unbelievable. His younger sister is a beautiful skier."
Carson does have some outstanding athletes and returning veterans, including Spencer Brinson, who's also a member of the CHS boys tennis team. Other boys scheduled to ski today include Kurt Andersen, Andy Hook, Andrew Richards, Mark Sinnott, Cameron Childers, Nick Marsh and Italian foreign exchange student Marco Diamantini.
Girls scheduled to ski today are Nicole Carelvato, Chelsea Keating, Lisa Midboe, Tina Midboe, Meredith Adler, Krissy Gunn and Julia Glenn. Reinhardt said he will also take a group of skiers today that will make up a B team.