WINTER PARK — Dayna Larsen wanted to cap her high school skiing career with another state title or two.
One down, one to go.
The Nederland senior, who won slalom and giant slalom titles as a sophomore, won the GS title again on Thursday at Winter Park Ski Resort to lead the Panthers to a second-place team finish in the event.
“It was a good day,” Larsen said in a phone interview. “I’m just really happy that I could ski well and that it turned out the way I wanted it to. You don’t know until you come down what’s going to happen.”
How good was Larsen’s day?
Her first run was the fastest on the girls side and was bested by only one boy. Her overall two-run time of 1 minute, 56.86 seconds was nearly two seconds ahead of runner-up Clara Hathorne (1:58.53) of Evergreen on the girls side and would have placed Larsen third among the boys.
After her pair of state titles in 2011, Larsen was coming off of a second-place finish in giant slalom a year ago along with fourth in slalom.
“She definitely skied one of her finest races of the year actually overall,” Nederland alpine coach Chantal Knapp said. “She’s definitely peaking right now, which is good timing.”
Larsen wasn’t the Panthers’ only solid racer Thursday.
NHS finished with 161 team points in the GS, 10 behind Evergreen. Nederland’s Keile Kropf took eighth, and Bailey Kuechenmeister was 14th to round out the Panthers’ scorers. Kyle Robbins also logged a top-20 finish on the girls side in 19th place.
Action resumes Friday with slalom races on the alpine side and a 5-kilometer classic race on the Nordic side.
“We were hoping for first but we’ll take second (Thursday) and hopefully we’ll be able to take first (Friday),” Larsen said.
The Nederland boys placed sixth in GS, with Grant Ellwood leading the way in fifth place individually.
After a slight error on his first run had him standing eighth, Ellwood rebounded on the second to climb the standings.
“I had a really solid (second) run …. so I was really happy with my day,” said Ellwood, a junior at Boulder High. “I’m really excited for (Friday). It should be a good day.”
Quin Kuechenmeister and Ian Hastings placed 37th and 38th to help lead the charge for the boys.
“We have probably more depth in slalom on the girls side, and in the boys,” Knapp said. “So I think (Friday) overall will be a better placing as a team.”
With Nordic and alpine team scores combined, the Nederland girls sit fourth in the race for the team state title with 284 points. Aspen leads with 316, followed by Summit (303) and Steamboat Springs (292).
The Nederland boys, meanwhile, sit 10th overall.
Bailey Kuechenmeister led the way for Nederland on the Nordic side Thursday, placing 10th.
Like in alpine, the Nederland Nordic group is expecting a bigger day Friday. The Panthers had only one boy competing Thursday, but will have full lineups on both the boys and girls sides for Friday’s classic race.
“It should be a little bit more exciting of a day,” NHS Nordic coach David Femmer said.
Follow us on Twitter: @BoCoPreps
STATE SKIING
GIRLS OVERALL TEAM STANDINGS
(Nordic and alpine combined)
Aspen 316, Summit 303, Steamboat Springs 292, Nederland 284, Battle Mountain 277, Evergreen 269, Middle Park 251, Lake County 227, Eagle Valley 204, Clear Creek 177, Vail Mountain 165, Platte Canyon 108, Colorado Rocky Mountain 31.
GIRLS ALPINE GIANT SLALOM
At Winter Park Resort
Team scores — Evergreen 171, Nederland 161, Battle Mountain 150, Aspen 147, Steamboat Springs 146, Summit 140, Middle Park 131, Lake County 111, Platte Canyon 108, Clear Creek 87, Eagle Valley 69, Colorado Rocky Mountain 31.
Top 10 individuals (two-run totals) — 1. Dayna Larsen, Nederland, 1:56.86; 2. Clara Hathorne, Evergreen, 1:58.53; 3. Katy Harris, Summit, 1:59.91; 4. Rae Lemon, Evergreen, 2:01.61; 5. Kendall VanHee, Battle Mountain, 2:03.42; 6. Brenna Hattler, Evergreen,2:04.14; 7. Suzanne Lyon, Steamboat Springs, 2:04.45; 8. Keile Kropf, Nederland, 2:04.69; 9. Lilly McSwain, Aspen, 2:04.98; 10. Rebecca Bolen, Middle Park, 2:05.10.
Other Nederland finishers — 14. Bailey Kuechenmeister 2:08.61; 19. Kyle Robbins 2:12.64; 27. Nola Gehring 2:17.30; 28. Chase Robbins 2:18.10; 37. Emma Gann 2:26.02; 51. Raina Galbiati 2:53.45.
GIRLS NORDIC 5K FREESTYLE
At Snow Mountain Ranch Nordic Center
Team scores — Aspen 169, Vail Mountain 165, Summit 163, Steamboat Springs 146, Eagle Valley 135, Battle Mountain 127, Nederland 123, Middle Park 120, Lake County 116, Evergreen 98, Clear Creek 90.
Top 10 individuals — 1. Hailey Swirbul, Aspen, 15:57.9; 2. Taeler McCrerey, Summit, 16:34.6; 3. Katie Scruggs, Vail Mountain, 16:44.8; 4. Ruthie Boyd, Summit, 17:49.9; 5. Nina Beidleman, Aspen, 18:07.6; 6. Annie Blakslee, Vail Mountain, 18:09.1; 7. Meg O’Connell, Steamboat Springs, 18:15.7; 8. Else Dodge, Aspen, 18:18.2; 9. Clare Baker, Vail Mountain, 18:23.1; 10. Bailey Kuechenmeister, Nederland, 18:28.4.
Other Nederland finishers — 31. Mackenzie Radandt 20:18.2; 46. Emma Vigers 22:21.5.
BOYS OVERALL TEAM STANDINGS
(Nordic and alpine combined)
Summit 328, Evergreen 304, Aspen 297, Steamboat Springs 283, Battle Mountain 233, Clear Creek 210, Eagle Valley 191, Middle Park 190, Nederland 156, Lake County 152, Platte Canyon 125, Vail Mountain 120, RidgeView Academy 100, Colorado Rocky Mountain 100.
BOYS ALPINE GIANT SLALOM
At Winter Park Resort
Team scores — Evergreen 167, Steamboat Springs 163, Summit 154, Aspen 137, Battle Mountain 128, Nederland 127, Platte Canyon 125, Vail Mountain 120, Clear Creek 114, Middle Park 49, Eagle Valley 41, Lake County 40.
Top 10 individuals (two-run totals) — 1. Patrick Gruber, Summit, 1:54.60; 2. Jake Bender, Evergreen, 1:54.81; 3. Nicholas Bailey, Platte Canyon, 2:00.71; Peter White, Steamboat Springs, 2:03.55; 5. Grant Ellwood, Nederland, 2:04.00; 6. Christopher Morris, Evergreeen, 2:04.15; 7. Andreas Foulk, Steamboat Springs, 2:05.38; 8. Owen Tallmadge, Evergreen, 2:05.61; 9. Dane Dixson, Steamboat Springs, 2:05.85; 10. Maxl Freeman, Evergreen, 2:06.00.
Other Nederland finishers — 37. Quin Kuechenmeister, Nederland, 2:18.66; 38. Ian Hastings, Nederland, 2:19.12; 47. Matt Wood, Nederland, 2:23.04; 48. Jacob Scheiffler, Nederland, 2:23.37; 51. Eric Spangler, Nederland, 2:25.37; 67. Sam Vonmettenheim, Nederland, DNF 2nd run.
BOYS NORDIC 5K FREESTYLE
At Snow Mountain Ranch Nordic Center
Team scores — Summit 174, Aspen 160, Eagle Valley 150, Middle Park 141, Evergreen 137, Steamboat Springs 120, Lake County 112, Battle Mountain 105, RidgeView Academy 100, Colorado Rocky Mountain 100, Clear Creek 96, Nederland 29.
Top 10 individuals — 1. Jackson Hill, Summit, 13:42.8; 2. Nic Reitman, Colorado Rocky Mountain, 14:18.3; 3. Cameron Bobb, Summit, 14:29.5; 4. Joe Barrett, Battle Mountain, 14:53.2; 5. Henry Trowbridge, Summit, 15:03.5; 6. Keegan Swirbul, Aspen, 15:05.1; 7. Liam McDonnell, Summit, 15:14.1; 8. Taber Miyauchi, Middle Park, 15:19.5; 9. Nick Sweeney, Aspen, 15:40.1; 10. Hudson McNamee, Aspen, 15:40.7.
Nederland finisher — 62. Matt Wood 23:33.6.
