From podium honors to Senior Night, Sparta racers are having a great season

January 25, podium 3rd

The Sparta Boys Ski Team took podium 3rd at Final Conference Slalom Race on Jan. 25.

Knowing where you are on a racecourse is critical. The top alpine racers are always looking two gates ahead. Yesterday’s race proved if you let your guard down and fail to concentrate on the second gate, the course will win.

The minimal course set with just three vertical combinations packed a punch last night. What should have been the easiest race of the season, tricked up many racers just over the first knoll where a delay gate was set on a diagonal just under the prior turning pole. Having been tipped off by a referee to carefully inspect the setting of the delay gate at the top of the course, it was the first thing our ski team looked at during the inspection.

We pointed out the proper passage line, planned to be off the single-pole blue gate prior to the delay, and to enter the delay gate on the top gate.

Sadly, in the heat of the moment, too many racers mistakenly turned under the single-pole above the delay gate and some turned immediately at the single pole and failed to cross the gate line of the delay gate. The most basic combination gate ended up being the most difficult and it disqualified three of our racers.

Team Captain Kanna Pasunuri and Drew Young delivered stellar runs finishing among the top 10 of all racers, and leading the boy’s alpine race team to podium 3rd placement. Teammates James Kressman and George Flint also contributed to the team time of 5:14.54 just three-tenths of a second shy from taking second place. Winning the race was Delbarton with a team time of

4:43.53 and taking second place was Wayne Hills with a team time of 5:14.20.

When you only have 6 racers on a ski team, and just the top 4 count, you rely on all to finish no matter their time. It was disappointing to see our chances quickly fade after the first run was over and three of our racers had either disqualified (DSQ) or did not finish (DNF). We were looking at taking on a ghost time before the second run had even started and settled for a 5th place finish. Fortunately, we had two back-to-back fast runs from top ten finishers Madison Campisi and Aubrey Zimmerman. Captain Cora Moriarty’s strong second run helped the girl’s team, but the fourth racer ghost time would prevent us from achieving podium. Sparta girls finished with a team time of 7:23.20. Ridgewood won the race with a team time of 5:31.77, followed by Mountain Lakes taking second with a team time of

5:38.47 and Wayne Hills taking third with a team time of 6:05.87.

Congratulations to Julia Mooney for taking 1st place once again in the girl’s JV race.

Team standings after third conference race: Varsity Boys: 11 Wins 9 Losses | Varsity Girls: 11 Wins 6 Losses

January 27, podium 1st and 3rd

The Sparta girls won first place at the Giant Slalom Race, and the boys took podium 2nd on Jan. 27.

Although none of our racers individually podium placed, that does not make us any less dangerous. In fact, when all our racers cross every gate line and finish the course with compressed strong race times, we have what it takes to be victorious and achieve podium for the team. Giant Slalom Race #1 is perfect proof. Thursday night’s race was our first giant slalom race of the season, a very short GS course set in the same location as our recent practice course at NWAC. The objective for the race was for all our racers to finish and let their race times be the determining factor. From JV to Varsity, mostly every racer finished both runs. Varsity racers were easily completing the short GS course in under 30 seconds. Both the boys and girls varsity ski team times came from Spartan alpine racers who finished among the top 15; many back to back with their fellow teammates. Needless to say, our first giant slalom race was a total team effort and I was very proud of their performance.

Four varsity girls finished in the top ten and the girls won the GS race with a team time of 3:37.20. Freshman Aubrey Zimmerman led the girl’s ski team finishing 6th overall, followed closely by team Captain Cora Moriarty who finished 8th, Catherine Marussich finished 9th and Madison Campisi finished 10th. The girls’ team finished nearly stacked, all within a couple of seconds of each other. Ridgewood High School finished second with a team time of 3:42.78 and Mountain Lakes finished third with a team time of 3:47.28. The girls won the race 5 to 0 and lifted their win percentage to 73%.

Similar to the girl’s ski team, the boy’s varsity ski team had three racers finish stacked and our fourth racer was just four places away all within seconds of each other. Team Captain Kanna Pasunuri finished 7th overall, immediately followed by David Baker in 8th, then Drew Young in 9th, and James Kressman finished 13th. The boy’s team took on 5 wins and 1 loss lifting their win percentage to 63%. Delbarton won the race with a team time of 3:27.28. Sparta took 2nd place podium with a team time of 3:41.08 and Wayne Hills finished third with a team time of 3:47.79.

Great race for both varsity ski teams and all our alpine racers!

Here are the team standings after our fourth conference race: Varsity Girls:

16 Wins 6 Losses | Varsity Boys: 17 Wins 10 Losses.

February 22, podium 2nd, Senior Night

We all enjoyed the stellar team performance on Feb. 2, and we had a fun time celebrating our four seniors at our fifth conference race.

Podium second wins from both the boys and girls varsity alpine race teams helped elevate our win percentages and bring us one step closer to competing in the upcoming NJISRA State Championships. Race after race, this team continues to grow closer, race faster and ski stronger. Looking at the individual race times of all six varsity racers including our JV racers, it is clear we have developed depth to make us resilient. Our future continues to shine brighter and we continue to progress.

It is impressive how all six Sparta varsity girls finished in the top fifteen. The Sparta girl’s team time of 4:46.47 gave us a second-place podium win. Ridgewood won the race with a team time of 4:42.29 and Mountain Lakes finished third with a team time of 4:46.58. Contributing to the Varsity girls team time was Team Captain Cora Moriarty who finished fifth overall, followed by Madison Campisi (7th), Aubrey Zimmerman (9th), and Catherine Marussich (13th). The girl’s score for the race was 4 wins and 1 loss; increasing our win percentage to 74.07%.

This makes four races in a row that the boy’s ski team has achieved the podium. With a team time of 4:34.73 the boy’s team once again won podium second. Contributing to the Varsity boys team time was Team Captain Kanna Pasunuri who finished sixth overall, followed by Drew Young (11th), George Flint (13th), and James Kressman (20th). The boy’s score for the race was 5 wins and 1 loss; increasing our win percentage to 66.67%. Delbarton won the race with a team time of 4:13.30 and Wayne Hills finished third with a team time of 4:35.17.

With only one conference race left to go, we are focused on staying the course and achieving podium at our last conference race of the season in hopes of prequalifying for States.

A special thank you to all the parents who organized a heartfelt tribute to our four seniors. Over the past four years, team Captain Cora Moriarty, Emma Dyrsten, Rachel Reder & Devon Scott have blessed our ski team with leadership, team spirit, and wonderful memories! We love our seniors!

Here are the team standings after our fifth conference race: Varsity Girls:

20 Wins 7 Losses | Varsity Boys: 22 Wins 11 Losses.