South Tahoe High skiers among tops in state; Whittell's Norton takes 2nd

Just as it had during most of the 2017 high school ski season, the Tahoe Basin State Championships held in South Lake Tahoe happened in the midst of a major snow storm.

Both days of events were switched to Sierra-at-Tahoe who kept the lifts running long enough for the student athletes to finish the slalom (SL) and grand slalom (GS) races.

South Tahoe High's girls team came in first in the slalom and third in the grand slalom, and the boys team took third in both races.

Individually, Tristan Deatherage and Rose McDonough of South Tahoe High (STHS) lead their teams, with Payton Norton and Madison Idso leading Whittell's times on the slopes.

Top 15 finishers in each race:

In Men's SL, Incline High's Winston Pretti (1), followed by Payton Norton of Whittell High School (2), Douglas High's Danner Hillman (3), Quinn Early of North Lake Tahoe (4), Tristan Deatherage (5) STHS, Austin Carr (6) and Brett Hurt (7) of North Tahoe, Gunnar Barnwell (8) Whittell, Sean Dunkelman (9) and Bryan Harris (10) of Douglas, Luke Allen (11) STHS, Kobe Robinson (12) Incline, Trent Carter (13) North Tahoe, Logan Langemeier (14) STHS and Adian Pretti (15) Incline.

For the women in GS, North Tahoe's Madeline Roberts and Jillian Ferre ended the race .01 seconds apart with Roberts taking first. Their teammate Maya Wong came in third, Whittell's Madison Idso (4), Belle Johnson (5) Incline, Danielle Dolan (6) Truckee, Susie Greeno (7) Truckee, Bridgette Johnson (8) Incline, Rachel Meyer (9) Incline, South Tahoe High's Rose McDonough (10), Hya Staudenmeyer (11) Truckee, Lyndsey Allen (12) STHS, Mia Rathsack (13) North Tahoe, Summer Ferrer (14) STHS, and Sierra Bedwell (15) STHS.

Womens SL: 1st place went to Jillian Ferre from North Tahoe High, 2nd to Belle Johnson of Incline High School, Danielle Dolan of Truckee (3) South Tahoe High's Rose McDonough (4), Truckee's Susie Greeno (5) and Hyla Staudenmeyer (6), Mia Rathsack (7), Summer Furrer STHS (8), Sierra Bedwell STHS (9), Incline High's Rachel Meyer (10) and Laurel Taylor (11), Douglas High's Emily Hillman (12), Olivia Sproehnle (13) North Tahoe, Kaci Meyer (14) Incline and Mary Weyland (15) Douglas.

Men's GS: Incline High's Winston Pretti(1), Whittell's Payton Norton (2), Douglas High's Danner Hillman (3), Quinn Early of North Lake Tahoe (4), Whittell's Gunnar Barnwell (5), STHS's Tristan Deatherage (6), Sean Dunkelman of Douglas (7), Luke Allen of STHS (8), Trent Carter North Tahoe (9) and Thomas Mercoglioni North Tahoe (10), Austin Carr North Tahoe (11), Kobe Robinson of Incline (12), Oliver Fralick North Tahoe (13), Bryan Harris of Douglas (14) and Noah Lyle of South Tahoe (15).

"Parents were amazing with volunteering," said coach Kristi Leonard of the adverse conditions they had as STHS hosted the races. "Principal Houck was a gate keeper all day and even our Bus Driver, Doug, was a gate keeper for the second race. The only way these races can be completed is with volunteers and our families always step up and make it happen!"