Troll Ski Resort hosted the Northern High School Zones at the end of January, with two Quesnel teams and two local individuals qualifying for provincials.
Correlieu snowboarder Scooter Van Vugt was the only Quesnel snowboarder entered to race, and he made it to provincials, which take place Mar. 5-7 at Sun Peaks Ski Resort in Kamloops.
For skiing, Quesnel Junior School’s (QJS’) boys team – including Caleb and Noah Woollends, Owen Larsen and Simon Higdon – placed second, and their time qualified them to attend provincials.
QJS’ girls team of Emma Klapatiuk, Valyce Mamic, Molly Hartley and Freya Jarrett won first place in their category and are also headed to provincials in the team events.
With 33 girls racing in the female individual event, Quesnel dominated the results, taking the top four spots.
Emma Klapatiuk placed first overall; Freya Jarrett second, Molly Hartley third and Hannah Doucette fourth. Doucette’s time also qualified her for provincials.
QJS’ Valyce Mamic came seventh overall.
And Quesnel student Kelsey Lefebvre had an unfortunate crash on her first run and wasn’t able to complete her second due to an injury.
In the boys’ races, Quesnel’s Brendan Kozuchar came 32nd, Layne Blaire 34th and Wacey Hutnyk 40th out of the 49 individuals racing from across the northern region.
Michelle Klapatiuk, who organized the zone race, says all the students skied and boarded very well at the competition.
“The QJS students, being in grade 8 and 9, did tremendously well against a field of students ranging in ages from 13 to 18. There was a broad range of talent across schools and athletes, ranging from very talented to novice skiers,” she says.
“The Correlieu athletes also did very well.
Scooter Van Vugt did a fantastic job, as the snowboarding field was quite strong, with teams from Burns Lake, Smithers and Fort St. James taking their snowboarding very seriously and competing at many different levels.”
Freya Jarrett, who will attend provincials as part of the girls’ team, says the event was enjoyable overall.
“I haven’t been to provincials before, so I think it’s going to be fun,” she says.