CHARLEMONT — Area high-school skiers traded in their pencils for ski poles on Tuesday during the PVIAC Alpine Ski Individual Championships at Berkshire East Mountain Resort.

Skiers spent the day on the slopes instead of the classroom and strived for the fastest combined time across the slalom and giant slalom events.

Seventh-grader Coleton Duda from Hampshire Regional was the second-fastest skier on the boys side, with a combined time of 1 minute, 16.76 seconds, out of the 95 boys skiers that finished both events.

“I did good,” Duda said. “I surprised myself getting first-place in the beginning. Didn’t do the best at slalom, but still finished getting second.”

Duda added he felt the conditions were “grippy” and that there wasn’t much ice to worry about.

Duda was the first of six Raiders skiers to place in the top-25. Cobyn Barry (13th, 1:26.79) , Chad Hockenberry (17th, 1:32.18), Jack Cameron (19th, 1:33.97), Cade Cefalo (24th, 1:37.21) and Logan Lapointe (25th, 1:37.56) made up Hampshire’s fastest six.

The Raiders captured South Division team titles on both the boys and girls squads. Dana Warren (15th, 1:30.92) and G Pica-Smith (20th, 1:36.75) each cracked the top-20 during the girls race as Hampshire’s two best skiers.

“All the kids did really well,” Raiders head coach Jane O'Riordan said. “From the top racer down to the bottom racer… [winning the PVIAC South] is always a sight to go after.”

“It’s very fun,” Duda said on being part of a successful team like Hampshire. “When I came into it, I didn’t expect how much fun it was going to be. Happy that our team did that well overall.”

Other local boys skiers who earned a spot in the top-20 included Keller Mahoney and Henry Fallon from Northampton, and Teddy Scott, James Scott and James Janssen from PVCICS.

Mahoney took sixth place with a time of 1:20.39, Fallon finished in 16th place, while Teddy Scott and James Scott were separated by less than two seconds at 11th and 12th place. Janssen snatched 20th in 1:34.88 for the Dragons.

Amherst’s Wes Dunford and Ravi Fuller were the Hurricanes’ top placers as Dunford concluded in 23rd in 1:36.97 and Fuller took 40th in 1:47.33.

Sarah Fardal had the quickest time among area girls skiers, as the PVCICS senior earned 11th place in 1:27.88 of the 78 skiers who completed each event.

“I think this year we’ve had a lot more competition on the girls side,” Fardal said. “A lot of up-and-coming young racers. In previous years [finishing top 10], that might not have been what felt good, but this year that feels pretty good.”

Fardal was one of five Dragons girls skiers competing and the squad got all five within the top 60. Luo Yi Zhang closely followed Fardal for PVCICS, grabbing 26th in 1:41.38.

“The conditions were awesome today,” Fardal said. “The fresh snow we got on Sunday morning, it made that very nice. The course has held up well.”

Fardal also mentioned she has been involved with the Dragons ski team since sixth grade, making Tuesday’s results extra meaningful.

Fardal should be a lock for the MIAA State Championships later this month, which also happens to be taking place at Berkshire East, and the Dragons star is looking forward to one last race on familiar terrain.

“I’m excited,” Fardal said. “I think it’s going to be a really fun race, a good race to go out on. It’s always fun to ski with people from all over the state. We get all of the kids from eastern Mass. who tend to be really good, so you get to see a lot of good skiing there and that’s exciting.

“It’s good to be ending at home,” Fardal said.

More top-20 girls skiers included Amelia Morse from Amherst, Simone Pagar from Northampton, along with Warren and Pica-Smith from Hampshire.

Morse managed 13th in 1:28.52 for the Hurricanes, while Pagar posted a time of 1:34.59 for 18th for the Blue Devils.

The state championship is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 25.