 Contributed photo
For the first time in 20 years, the Sandy High School (SHS)
Girls Ski Team won the annual Mt. Hood League Race. The Sandy girls came in
first place out of eight schools in the competition held on Feb. 17 at Ski Bowl
East.
“It was an amazing outcome. It was definitely supposed to be
a team building year,” Sandy High School Ski Team Coach Josh Kanable said. Kanable
has been the coach for both the Sandy boys and girls ski teams for 13 years.
“This is the first year (in my tenure) the girls have come
out on top of the Mt. Hood League,” Kanable said.
Both the Sandy boys and girls teams had several youth from
Welches and Rhododendron that made a strong showing at the Oregon
Interscholastic Ski Racing Association (OISRA) ski races at the Hoodoo ski
resort in Sisters Oregon on March 2-3.
Aeris Eaton, Bode Burke, Denali Barrett, Dylan Brown, Elle
Schreiner and Grace Burke represented SHS in the race and competed in the
slalom and giant slalom.
Sandy junior Elle Schreiner placed 16th overall combined out
of 113 girls in the OISRA state competition.
“I am on the mountain four to six days a week, and I love
sharing that with the Sandy High Ski team,” Schreiner said. “There is no better
place than on the mountain, and the team has the kindest atmosphere around.”
Eaton, a senior, took home the Sportsmanship award at the
Mt. Hood league competition for her display of team spirit and kindness to
other teams and participants throughout the season.
“You would think the great part is skiing on beautiful Mount
Hood three days a week but the best part is the people,” Eaton said. “Being a
senior on this team and having the opportunity to get to know everyone was one
of the best parts of my senior year.”
The SHS ski team exemplified sportsmanship with the team’s
practice of welcoming skiers of all experience and skill levels.
“This year we had four athletes who had never skied before
on the team,” Kanable said.
He added that skiing has traditionally been a hard sport for
many youth to have access to.
With the support of the Oregon Trail School District’s
funding for bussing and coaching, Kanable has been able to develop the program
from eight participants in 2010 to 31 students this season.
“They light up at the end of the night,” Kanable said about
the positive response from participants of all skill levels on his team.
With the majority of the team returning next season, Kanable
anticipates another positive season next year.
The Sandy boys team placed first in the Mt. Hood League the
last three seasons before this year. The boys finished fourth in the league
this year and are not losing any seniors on their side.
“The squads will be bigger, stronger and more experienced. I
think they improve every season, and we’ll have some skilled skiers coming in
as freshmen,” said Kanable. “It’s a wonderful group of kids, who excel on and
off the slopes.”
By Ben Simpson/MT
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