Skiers up

All season long, Kerrigan Leijon and Nels Hansen have consistently been top finishers for the Incline High School boys skiing team.

It was no different on Saturday, as the duo finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the slalom run of the 2008 Nevada 4A state ski meet at Mt. Rose Ski Resort.

But their performance isn't what had coach Joe Humasti beaming on Monday.

Instead, it was the performance of the lesser-publicized Highlanders - namely Nick Rutley, Austin Young and Brenden Darby - that Humasti said was instrumental in Incline earning a second-place medal as a boys team in the slalom, a year after the team won the state title in the same focus.

"For the first time this season, Nick and Austin made the difference; they raced the best they did all year," Humasti said. "And Brenden looked like a winner out there for the first time this season. He was aggressive and he did very well."

Darby recorded a 14th-place finish in the slalom race, posting a combined time of 1 minute, 6.33 seconds. Young finished 25th with a combined time of 1:15.44, while Rutley recorded a 30th place combined time of 1:21.00.

The trio's ability to finish in the top 30 was huge, Humasti said, because Incline had just six racers on Saturday.

Since the top four times count toward the final team score, Incline was at a slight disadvantage, considering the other teams at the meet had eight racers, to Incline's six.

Senior Sean Higgins and sophomore Jimmy Sagan missed the meet, as they were competing in FIS races.

"We only had six boys, so it put a lot of pressure on the six," Humasti said. "If one of those guys goes down, then we don't get second place. To not be at full strength, it was a tremendous accomplishment considering the number of kids we had at the race."

Incline was among six boys teams at Saturday's slalom. South Tahoe High School took home the 4A state title, finishing the meet with 470 points.

Incline finished second with 425 points, followed by Wooster in third with 399 points. Rounding out the bottom three were Damonte Ranch (381), Galena (367) and Reno (346).

The Vikings were powered by four top 10 finishes, including first- and second-place finishes by Kyle Smaine (1:00.19, combined) and Derek Holmgren (1:01.68, combined).

"The boys have a team spirit this year," STHS coach Mike Shreve told the Tahoe Daily Tribune. "They want to be part of a team. They don't want to be independents. They see how fun it is to win as a team, as well as individually, and they see a lot of fulfillment in it."

Damonte Ranch's Thomas Beatty finished third (1:01.91), followed by Wooster's Matt Trabert (1:03.25), Leijon (1:03.44) and Hansen (1:03.80).

Matt Smith, the other Highlanders skier, finished 48th in the race.

Incline still has a chance to repeat as giant slalom and combined 4A champions on Saturday, as the 4A giant slalom race, set to be contested last Sunday at Mt. Rose, was postponed because of the snow storm.

On the girls side, IHS junior Jill Colbert was the lone Lady Highlander to compete last Saturday. Colbert finished 37th overall, posting a combined time of 1:36.18.

"She had what she called kind of a shaky first run, but she made up for it with a much stronger second run," Humasti said. "It made her feel better abut her performance, and she'll be looking to get into the top 20 in the GS."

Saturday's GS race, for both genders, is set to begin at 10 a.m. at Mt. Rose. If South Tahoe wins, it will become the 2008 slalom, giant slalom and combined champion, the exact accomplishment Incline made last season.

Check Friday's Bonanza for a more in-depth preview of Saturday's giant slalom final.