We competed in our first ski race of the season in Jackson Hole this past weekend. The team has grown from last year: we lost 2 seniors but gained 10 new skiers! We have a truly fantastic group of student-athletes! The Jackson race was a combination of a HS race and a US Ski and Snowboard sanctioned race for the Intermountain division (IMD). Seven athletes from Sheridan competed in the IMD race seeking to gain qualifying points for Junior Nationals, while the rest competed in the HS race. The snow conditions in Jackson Hole were rough, with lots of grass and dirt sticking out. They had planned on a classic race for Saturday but had to switch to skate. In contrast, the Big Horns have definitely done well this year so far. Day 1 was a 1.25k Sprint Skate race. Every athlete completed an individual race, and based on their times they were then placed into heads of 6 to compete against athletes with similar results. This was a great opportunity for athletes in our region to learn to race sprints, as we historically have not done as well in those event compared with other regions. On Day 2, most athletes competed in a 5k Skate race, while six of our IMD racers competed in a 10k Skate race. Noteworthy results:

Day 1 - 1.25k Skate Sprint:

Men:

Fastest Racer regional race: 2:28.0

Fastest WY High School Racer: Fisk Johansson 2:37.8

Fastest from Sheridan: SeanKyle Taylor 3:04.6

Fastest Freshman from Sheridan: Kade Shideman 3:26.7

Women:

Fastest Racer overall: 2:59.2 (Ally Wheeler from Casper)

Fastest from Sheridan: Kayley Alicke 3:33.4

Day 2 - 10k Skate:

Men: 

Fastest Racer: 27:10.0

Fastest WY HS Racer: Fisk Johannson 28:23.9

Fastest from Sheridan: SeanKyle Taylor 33:51.7

Women:

Fastest Racer: 29:18.4 (Ally Wheeler from Casper)

Fastest from Sheridan: Kaley Alicke 33:36.0 

Kayley was the 3rd fastest woman from WY including all club skier. The top two WY women Ally Wheeler (Casper) and Lena Poduska (Jackson Hole) are both National Champions and compete internationally.

All Race results can be found here