DHS snowboard team is off to the races

The Davis High School junior varsity boys snowboard team dominated the open division in the first race of the season this week, a slalom course at Boreal Ridge Ski Resort.

Leading the pack was returning sophomore Andrew Steeples with a second-place finish, followed closely by teammate Sean Mulvihill, who finished third. Riley Descheemaeker came in fifth, edging out fellow DHS racer Dean Boswell (sixth) by hundredths of a second. Rounding out the top 10 were senior Dakota Spycher (eighth), sophomore Jared McNece (ninth) and freshman Connor Layman (10th).

In the varsity boys division, Colin Cohan, a returning senior and one of last year’s state competitors, flew down the course, placing fifth overall and nailing down the top spot in the Davis lineup. Brian Simmons, another senior who competed at states last year, had an 11th-place finish, just hundredths of a second shy of finishing in the top 10.

The DHS scorecard was filled out by seniors Colin Wehrhan (17th) and Kyle DiBiasio (18th). The varsity boys’ efforts gave them a third-place finish, only one point behind the second-place team, Truckee Tahoe.

The girls varsity racers, led by Valerie Hurst, another experienced DHS senior who competed at states last season, had an 11th-place finish. Senior Brittany Gingerich-Brooks, a two-time state competitor, finished 17th overall and was the second racer across the line for Davis.

The final two racers whose scores contributed to Davis High’s efforts were sophomore Christina Roeckl-Navazio (23rd) and senior and first-time racer Tarin Noonan (26th). The varsity girls racers ended up with a fifth-place finish and, combined with the varsity boys’ scores, ended the day with an overall team finish of fourth place.

Head coach Marcia Heller was pleased with the team’s first race results.

“Because of the way that the dates for winter break fell and the snow conditions that we had in November and December, the team did not get a lot of practice time on the hill prior to our first race,” Heller said. “That being said, it was great to see how much improvement there was for our returning racers and how well some of the new members of the team performed.

“We have a lot of depth this year and I think that we will advance in the standings as the season progresses.”

The DHS snowboard team is scheduled for a giant slalom race next week at Alpine Meadows Ski Resort.