WESTMINSTER — The young Mohawk Trail girls alpine ski team looked anything but inexperienced on Tuesday.
On the strength of a pair of top 10 individual finishes, the Warriors captured the program’s first state championship in the 21st century at the MIAA Alpine Championships. Mohawk Trail soared to the top of the leaderboard to take home the big prize at Wachusett Mountain.
“It was a very successful day,” Mohawk Trail’s Addie Loomis said. “I’m very hyped and jazzed for our season and how today went. Of course we wanted to win this but it’s very exciting. It’s not unexpected but it is at the same time. It’s a fun thing to experience.”
Loomis tied for eighth in the slalom with a time of 48.19 seconds, and also earned eighth place in the giant slalom with a run of 47.15 seconds.
“I’m not disappointed in either of my runs,” Loomis said. “I think in the slalom I could have gone a little bit harder. There’s always more I could have done. In the GS, it was just a tough hill but I did what I could and did well.”
Just an eighth grader, Loomis enjoyed getting to compete against the state’s best. She dominated the PVIAC season leading up to Tuesday’s state meet.
“Coming into this, I was getting really hyped up,” Loomis said. “I stayed hyped throughout. Just to be here is an exciting thing.”
Teammate Emmy Sisum had one of the best runs of the day on the giant slalom course, taking third overall with a time of 46.84 seconds.
The sophomore also finished 14th on the slalom course with a run of 49.55 seconds.
“We have a really good team,” Sisum said. “I felt like it was going to be a good run. I tried pushing it to go faster, I thought I’d do good but not that good.”
For Mohawk Trail senior Cali Price, who attends Frontier Regional, racing at Wachusett was a different experience. It was the first race of the season away from Berkshire East where both the slalom and giant slalom races take place on the same course.
At Wachusett, the two races took place on separate parts of the mountain, which was an adjustment for the Warriors.
“Being a senior, having this as my last race was amazing,” Price said. “We’re so used to Berkshire East so we’re not used to different trails for GS and slalom. I do like it better though.”
Price finished the slalom course with a time of 1:15.92 and her run on the giant slalom course took 59.17.
“Slalom was not the best,” Price said. “The top was great, the bottom was great but the middle was an ice rink. GS was really, really slow. We aren’t used to completely flat but you do the best you can with it.”
Caroline Makosiej — another Redhawk student competing for Mohawk Trail — finished the slalom course in a time of 1:08.77 and the giant slalom course in 54.91, but most of all enjoyed getting to spend the day with her team.
“It was a really fun day,” Makosiej said. “It’s awesome to just get to hang out with your friends and your team all day.”
Ellie Pinkham took 20th in the slalom (51.00) and tied for 49th in the giant slalom (49.83) to round out an outstanding day for the Warriors.
Mohawk Trail’s Sofiya Slocik-Gritzner took 84th in the slalom (59.02) and 83rd in the GS (51.53), scoring as the No. 4 skier on the team’s roster in both events.
On the boys side, Mohawk Trail’s Weston Den Ouden had his best run on the slalom course, where he placed ninth with a run of 48.31 seconds. He also 25th on the giant slalom course with a time of 49.22.
“The course and terrain are really flat,” Den Ouden said. “It was kind of hard for me. The first one wasn’t great but I had a good second run.”
Getting to compete against the best racers in the state helped motivate Den Ouden on Tuesday.
“There’s a lot of people here that I know from USSA,” Den Ouden said. “It’s fun to see all of them and ski against them.”
Fellow Warrior Liam Green earned a top 50 finish in slalom, placing 39th with a time of 53.38.