Titans Finish Strong on the Slopes

By: Darryl Young

The Ski and Snowboard Team had a great run this year. The season started out pretty rough in November with a lot of early morning training sessions before the school days. When asked, Rachael Zerafa stated, "It's early and I want to die".

Then, the moment they had all been waiting for, the day on the slopes: however, it turned out to be a disastrous disappointment. The plans for skiing and snowboarding in Ellicottville were halted and the bus was stopped at the border due to a snowstorm in Buffalo. It was a long day, one that didn't result in any action.

Despite this setback, the ski team battled hard the entire way through. In the following weeks, they again woke up for the 6:00am bus rides to the hills.

The next week, the team went back to Ellicottville for a second round of training, but first their official one on the hills. Since only one training session is required to participate in the competition, the racers were still allowed to compete in the following weeks. The participants all performed excellently at the first meeting for GHAC qualifiers at Alpine Ski Resort in Collingwood. The HT female Ski Team consisting of Morgan O'Shea, Madeline Czechowski, Erin Heidecker, Jenna Locke and Julie Daugavietis finished second overall in GHAC, winning them some nice silver hardware. Congrats ladies!!!

The next week was for OFSAA. To put it bluntly, the conditions were rough. It was freezing out and extremely windy, causing the snow to blow everywhere. For racers, it was at times difficult to see the groves in the snow. Oh, and did I mention the ice? Overall, the team performed extremely well for the second week in a row. The girls' snowboard team consisting of Leah Chan, Shannon Charters, Alessandra Mahoney and Rachel Zerafa finished 3rd overall.

Qualifying for OFSAA is the farthest that the Titans have gotten in recent years. The meet was held at Blue Mountain Ski Resort. The team completed the races which resulted in a great experience for the girls.

Due to the first training session being cancelled, the HT Ski and Snowboard team made the executive decision to have one more competition. Since this occurred after the Halton competitions, it was deemed that this competition was going to be in the house- the team would compete to see who is the best between them. It was called the “HT Classic”. The team raced down the hill all morning with the fastest times being recorded. There were gold, silver, and bronze medals awarded for each category. The medal winners were:

Snowboarding (Female):

Gold — Leah Chan
Silver — Rachel Zerafa
Bronze — Alissandra Mahoney

Snowboarding (Male):

Gold — Luke Raczywolski

Silver — Kevin Glasek

Bronze — Blaze Cerovcec

Skiing (Female):

Gold — Madeline Czechowski
Silver — Morgan O'Shea

Bronze — Erin Heidecker

Skiing (Male):

Gold — Robin Roth
Silver — Joseph Cavalieri
Bronze — Chad Arthur

 
An honourable mention goes to Marc Monette, who had three solid runs but just missed the podium. 

If all goes well, this HT Classic might be a new addition to the ski team's season every year. Lots of fun and more school missed; it's a win­-win, right?

I think Remington "Remi" Evelyn summed it up best: "We did well this year, we had fun, did good in our competitions, and hopefully next year we'll have more support and win".

**If you would like to join the team next year, be sure to talk to Mr. Hayes and listen to the announcements around November so you can sign up. Be prepared for early morning training!