KHS boys ski away from the field to alpine state title

Snowstorm interupts State Meet week; Wednesday's cross country to be resheduled

The Kennett High boys alpine team capped off a perfect season Tuesday at Cranmore winning the alpine championship as State Meet week got off to a great start for the hometown Eagles."We had a phenomenal day," Mike Veilleux, Eagles' head coach, said. "Things really couldn't have gone any better. We were the favorite going in and the guys were equal to the challenge. We skied as a team and did what we had to. We're thrilled to win the alpine title, but we've got our sights set on the whole prize, we want to win the overall combined state title."Championship week is going to be pushed back a little bit as the cross country championships, slated for Wednesday in North Conway's Whitaker Woods, have been pushed back due to, of all things, the first big snowstorm of the winter. No date for the make-up has been scheduled.On the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association's (NHIAA) website (www.nhiaa.org) under "Special Alert," the following message is posted: "All SKI events scheduled for Wed. Feb. 14th have been postponed. Site directors will be working on developing alternative dates and sites. A decision regarding Thursday's meets will be made by Wednesday afternoon. Please check on the Skiing link on the left for updated information."Tuesday belonged to the Kennett boys, who found plenty of room on the medal podium. In the morning giant slalom, senior Sam Norden captured his third overall state GS title (having won as a freshman and sophomore), posting a two-run combined time of 87.65. Teammate Pete Ostroski, a favorite to repeat as state skimeister (awarded to the stop skier from all disciplines), was second in 88.86 followed by Joe Gardella, fifth, 90.90; Hunter Haynes, eighth, 92.47; Brendan Murphy, 10th, 93.68; and Parker Haynes, 20th, 97.59. By virtue of 10 10 finishes in GS, five KHS skiers have qualified to compete in the first Meet of Champions at Gunstock Ski Area in Gilford on Feb. 22. The races bring together the top 10 skiers in slalom and GS from Divisions I through IV for a day of racing to crown individual state champions.Kennett led Hanover, its arch-rival, after the GS by 35 points, 388 to 352.25 with John Stark third (339) in the 12 school field (Plymouth, Lebanon, Kingswood, Laconia, St. Thomas, Milford, Hollis-Brookline, ConVal and Souhegan).In the slalom, Ostroski won the race with a two-run combined time of 71.19 and was joined atop the podium by Gardella, third, 76.85 (the top three skiers receive medals). They were followed by Norden, fifth, 77.02; Alex Leich, 11th, 81.77; Pat O'Halloran, 12th, 82.30; and Hunter Haynes, 24th, 89.73. Ostroski, Gardella and Norden will also ski in the slalom at Meet of Champions.The schedule for State Meet week, which kicked off Tuesday at Cranmore was to feature boys and girls cross country on Wednesday at North Conway's Whitaker Woods (girls classical at 10 a.m.; boys at 11 a.m.; girls freestyle at 1:30 p.m. and boys freestyle at 2:30 p.m.); girls alpine on Thursday at Waterville Valley (GS at 10 a.m. and slalom at 1 p.m.); and ski jumping at 6 p.m. on Friday at Proctor Academy."I know they're still trying to work on the details of when to make it up," Veilleux said of the cross country. "It might very well be a week from Wednesday, but nothing is definite yet."Also, the Division IV New Hampshire State Cross Country Ski Championships, slated for Wednesday at Great Glen Trails in Pinkham Notch, have been rescheduled to Friday. Races begin at 10:30 a.m.