Thwrt
The Sdnäy Post
Sports
Morch H . 1987 (Sec I) SANDY (Ora ) POST—7
and Recreation
At left: Sue Sarich. Above, from left to right: Coach Robert Karsten. Ingrid Peterson. Charr Bridge. Anne Sarich, Sue Sarich, l'Ila Pearson
and Marcy H u ff.
SUHS girls make up time, win state title
by SCOTT NEWTON
Robert Karsten, coach of the
Sandy ski team, suffered a split
personality last week
After a wet. snowy and drawn
out T h u rsd a y, K a rste n was
pessimistic
He told The Post Friday morning
there was a chance that the girls
would win the state championship,
but that it was a long shot
A miscalculation in figuring
times gave Karsten the impression
that the girls were over 16 seconds
out of first place
He said that the girls are good
enough to make up three seconds
on anybody Sixteen seconds, well,
that's a different story
The clouds went away Thursday
night, and the course maker set a
long course on the west run at Ski
Bowl The course went from the
near to the top of upper bowl to the
bottom of lower bowl
It was a “ very fast” course,
much to the Sandy g irls ’ advan
tage
Karsten told The Post Friday
afternoon, after the giant slalom
had been run, that an eight-second
mistake had been made Thursday
night He didn't know if they'd won
the title , but said, " I t looks
hopeful ”
By 7 p m. he was buoyant. Ulla
Pearson was honored as the in
d ivid u a l state champion, and
Karsten was the coach of the
Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing
Association champions, for the se
cond time in a row
The girls not only made up 8.4
seconds to catch Hood River, they
surpassed them by over six
seconds.
Karsten said that they were right
where they should have been after
the first slalom course was run on
Thursday.
The second slalom course was
set a lot tighter, with “ some tricks
in it.”
Both courses were at Multopor,
on Mt. Hood Lane (fo rm e rly
Nastar).
A number of racers, boys as well
as girls, were disqualified on the
second run
Karsten said, “ I'm a course set
ter that believes you never put a
trick in a course,"
Others, he pointed out, feel d if
ferently
Pearson skied well both days.
Karsten said
Anne Sarich came through in the
giant slalom, winning her second
state giant slalom title
A slalom course has more turns,
and they're closer together, accor
ding to Karsten And, a giant
slalom course is longer than a
slalom course.
Anne tra in s m ore fo r the
d o w n h ill, K arsten said The
downhill requires a skier b- able t \
go even faster than in the giant
slalom, he said
Karsten said that at one PNSA
downhill race Anne was timed go
ing 75 miles per hour—“ faster than
her parents would let her drive a
ca r.”
Karsten was also pleased with
Sue Sarich, who tied for third in the
giant slalom despite the fact that
she twisted her knee skiing the
previous Sunday
“ She can be very determined."
Karsten said
About Sandy's number four
skier, Charr Bridge, he said.
•“ Steady and true Good ol Charr
She always finishes, and she
finishes high, too ”
Karsten said that she is strong,
and skiea within her range
Junior Ingrid Peterson is the
team’s number five racer This is
her first year of competition
Kars*en said that she picked up a
lot of technique through the
season, and is “ really understan
ding it well "
Freshman Marcy Huff "has
tremendous potential ” She needs
some d e v e lo p m e n ta l w o rk .
Karsten said She competed in the
giant slalom
Senior Kris Van Steenis com
peted in the slalom Thursday
With her two times put together,
she was 19,h in the state, and
scored for Sandy as the third
finisher
Karsten said that she's "an ex
uberant person a lot of fun ”
A number of coaches, between
the time the giant slalom was over
Friday and the results announced
that evening, expressed concern
over the lack of support their
schools give skiing
Sandy is seen as a school that
supports its ski program
Asked if this is the case. Karsten
said, " I'd say that we were the only
school tha, had the principal, the
su perintendent and a board
member at the race ”
Sarich, Sarich, Pearson and Bridge: Depth key to success
by SCOTT NEWTON
Winning the state title was not
enough for the Sandy girls.
“ Hopefully next year we'll get
the combined state, with guys and
g irls,” sophomore Ulla Pearson
said last week
But even if the girls missed hav
ing the guys there to compete, it
didn’t hurt their performances
any
Pearson is the individual state
champion, having won the slalom
Thursday and having finished
sixth in the giant slalom Friday.
Her combined time was over
seven seconds faster than the
nearest competitor
Junior Sue Sarich, the winner of
the Mt Hood Championship race,
finished in a tie for third in the
giant slalom, despite the fact she
had been limping round on a
twisted knee
Anne Sarich, Sue’s twin, didn’t
have a good day Thursday, but won
the giant slalom Friday. I t ’s her
second state giant slalom cnam-
pionship
Charr Bridge, a sophomore,
came through in the slalom Thurs
day, finishing fifth and keeping the
Pioneers in the running She also
finished well in the giant slalom,
and tied for fourth-place individual
honors (combined).
The slalom was comprised of two
runs, with the second one being the
hardest. It snowed most of the day
Thursday.
B rid g e said th a t she fe lt
pressured going into the second
run
Anne Sarich had fallen, and also
Sue had not done well.
About her finish, she said, “ I was
really surprised I didn’t think I did
that w ell."
She added. “ I was trying not to
fall. I was basically just trying to
make it down the course.”
Ulla Pearson
"We know we can always count
on Charr coming down and suppor
ting as if one of us fa lls," Anne
Sarich said. "She's really steady,"
In considering the depth of the
Sandy girls team, one need only
consider that Bridge finished in the
top 10 at every race this season
Anne Sarich at times did not
compete for the high school She
competed on the Pacific Northwest
Ski Association circuit, and also
earned the honor of representing
the Northwest on the Western
Region Women’s downhill team in
the North American Trophy Series
in Colorado
Asked her favorite place to ski,
she said, “ I like it right here, but
i t ’s kind of nice to travel around ”
The long giant slalom course was
to her liking. “ It was fun," she
said. “ I lost a lot of time on the top,
but I made it up on the bottom ”
Asked what she did wrong at the
top of the course, she said, “ I was
overturning and not really pushing
myself, so I didn’t have much
speed going into the flats.”
About her performance in the
slalom, she said, “ I fell the second
run I hooked a tip and had to
hike.”
Anne said that she’ll compete on
the PNSA circuit through spring
break, which is next week Then
she’s going to call it quits for the
season and play softball.
Thursday also was not a good
day for Sue Sarich "On one of my
runs my knee gave out," she said
“ I didn fall I skied the course but I
really didn’t know what I was do
ing."
It "broke my concentration
totally.”
The second run she had to hike
(go back uphill because she missed
a gate).
Her knee "just locked, sort of,”
Anne Sarich
she said. “ So, I had problems with
both runs.”
The sun was out Friday, and Sue
skied appropriately, finishing in a
tie for third, just a little over two
seconds out of first
“ It went real w ell," she said. " It
hurt when I went through the finish
and everything It was hard to talk
"When I was going into the flats I
almost missed a gate, so I kind of
had to je rk to make the gate, so I
lost time there.
"So, I might have even been fu r
ther up (in the standings), but I ’m
really happy, considering
“ I was going for it, but I didn’t
know I could do that w ell."
Sue admits that she and Anne
are competitors, but added, “ I
want us both to do w ell."
The same attitude seems to
prevail on the team
Said Sue, “ We try to help each
other more than anything We all
want to do well together. We’d all
just as soon tie for firs t.”
For Pearson, there’s another big
race coming up She recently found
out that she’s qualified for the
PNSA Junior Olympic two team
She’ll catch a plane to Denver
Saturday, and then w ill train for
three days in Aspen, and then race
a downhill, a giant slalom and a
slalom
All four girls seemed to over
whelmingly agree on a couple of
things
They were talking about high
school coaches Said Anne Sarich
about Robert Karsten, "H e ’s the
best."
And about their chances for a
third state championship?
“ Next year’s going to be our best
year," said Sue Sarich. "W e re
gonna cream the other teams next
year.”
C harr Bridge
-J
Kris Van Steenis
Marcy Huff