Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Suzanne Lyon has skied long enough to come up with a plethora of motivations for getting down a race course.

The Steamboat Springs High School senior turned to the oldest one she had Friday, the closing day of the Colorado State Skiing Championships.

“It was really cold,” said Lyon, who paced the Sailors in Friday’s slalom, finishing second. “I was just trying to get to the bottom to get warm.”

It definitely worked as Lyon overcame a tough second course to move up in the standings.

After the first run’s course was straight, setters changed it up the second time, making it a winding, flowing course.

But on the track at Winter Park, Lyon said the setup didn’t matter much.

“In Winter Park, it’s flat, so you can do either,” said Lyon, who bested a third-place giant slalom finish last year. “I was pretty stoked to ski that well.”

Ali Pougiales had a solid second run and finished second. Marnie Buckley was 16th, and McKenzie Millard was 20th.

On the men’s side Peter White followed up a strong Thursday giant slalom race with a seventh-place finish in Friday’s slalom. Andreas Foulk was 16th, and Dane Dixson was 21st.

“Just in general, our team skied really well,” coach Jim Winn said. “Everyone had solid runs.”

As a team, the Steamboat girls and boys each were fourth.

Nordic team finishes strong

Considering the top teams at the Colorado State Skiing Championships use club racers, finishes for the Steamboat Springs High School team were all relative.

The Sailors don’t use club skiers but still managed to pick up a couple of top-10 finishes Friday at the Snow Mountain Ranch Nordic Center.

Gabriel Bohlmann paced Steamboat with a ninth-place finish in the 5-kilometer, mass-start event. Teammate Meg O’Connell was 10th.

“To get top 10 in this competition is a super strong race,” Steamboat coach Emily Lovett said. “That’s great.”

Sabina Berend, who fell at the beginning, was 24th. Eliza Leeson was 28th.

On the men’s side, Peter White again led the team, this time with a 19th-place finish. Tait Dixson was 36th, Tristan Fischer was 41st and Dane Dixson was 42nd.

As a team, the boys were seventh and the girls were fourth.

“It was very long, flat and uphill,” Fischer said. “I thought I could have done better, but oh, well.”

To reach Luke Graham, call 970-871-4229 or email lgraham@SteamboatToday.com