Boys varsity ski team second, girls third in final race
SPARTA. All four Sparta High School teams won places on the podium at the last conference race of the season.
Sparta /
| 21 Feb 2023 | 01:21
Seniors on the Sparta High School ski team, from left, are Elizabeth Flint, James Kressman, Kanna Pasunuri and Gabe Harrison. (Photo by Coach Rodney Calafati)
All four Sparta High School ski teams won places on the podium at the last conference race of the season Feb. 15 at Mountain Creek.
The varsity and junior varsity boys teams and junior varsity girls team each placed second and the varsity girls team was third.
All 22 racers finished with two solid runs. The race on the Kamikaze trail took place on a tropical winter day with soft snow.
After all six conference races, the varsity boys team was ranked fourth and the varsity girls were eighth, although the statistics could change.
Boys teams
The varsity team captain, senior Kanna Pasunuri, led the team with a fourth-place overall finish and a combined time 1:23.94 on Feb. 15.
Drew Young (1:26.12), David Baker (1:28.15) and George Flint (1:29.00) all contributed to the team time of 5:47.21.
The undefeated Pingry team won the race with a team time of 5:39.57.
Vernon High School finished third with a team time of 5:49.76.
The Sparta boys picked up five wins and one loss.
Ridge High School won the junior varsity race with a team time of 6:39.51. The Sparta team finished close behind with team time of 6:43.97. Freshmen Ryan Grycuk (1:33.24), Pat Fitzsimmons (1:37.01), Jonathan Petelicki (1:42.09) and Chase Thonus (1:51.63) all contributed.
Grycuk won the junior varsity race, and Fitzsimmons took second overall.
Girls teams
For the third time this season, the varsity girls made it to the podium.
With a team time of 6:07.47, they finished in third place. Contributing to the team time were Madison Campisi at 1:28.77, Aubrey Zimmerman at 1:29.17, Julia Mooney at 1:32.93 and Ava Dyrsten at 1:36.60.
Vernon won the race with a team time of 5:50.12 and Blair Academy took second with a team time of 5:59.43.
The Sparta girls picked up three wins and two losses.
Zimmermann, a sophomore, led the team by contributing to every race this season.
The junior varsity girls raced to a second-place finish with a team time of 7:57.00.
Freshman Kate Agudo at 1:47.18 and Maddie Gambino at 1:50.26 finished third and fourth, respectively. Brynne Cashion (1:58.07) and Leah Albers (2:21.49) also contributed.
Blair Academy won the junior varsity race with a team time of 7:27.17. Ridge finished third with a team time of 8:07.37.