It was warm, the snow was soft and the races were held a day earlier than originally scheduled, but the elements had no impact on Vernon’s Kyle Hayes and Immaculate Heart’s Brianna Washburn, who won the respective boys and girls overall titles at the New Jersey Interscholastic Ski Racing Association individual championships on Monday at Mountain Creek (South) in Vernon.
Hayes placed first in both the combined giant slalom (1:18) and regular slalom (1:01.94) while Washburn earned second in the slalom (1:09.79) and second once again in the GS (1:23.74) in the afternoon.
Being only a freshman, Washburn was amazed with how her campaign culminated as she stood atop the podium with the girls Skier of the Year trophy. It’s an ending she didn’t think would arrive this soon in her high school career.
“My year didn’t start off great in the first few races, but as it continued, I was able to get back in the groove of racing,” she said. “I fell yesterday in states and I didn’t think it went well, but today something changed. I raced well and now we’re here. My coach has been great with me and the rest of the girls were great all season as well.”
Her statement race came early as she posted a 32.18 in her first run of the morning in the slalom, which edged the other 39 skiers by almost a full second.
She touched on the reason behind her success throughout the day and how things changed in just 24 hours.
“I had a better mental state I guess you could say,” she said. “The snow was bad, though I knew they would make it work. I didn’t know what to expect in the afternoon with giant slalom because I’ve never been the fastest with that, but it was fun.”
New Jersey’s lack of snowfall made for a bad skiing season, so Washburn takes pride in what she accomplished on the trails. The weather was a different experience for her given how cold her winters have been previously.
“I used to go to Killington Mountain School in Vermont,” she said. “It took some getting used to, but once I adjusted it was fine. I just didn’t expect to leave today with two trophies, not even a little.”
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Hayes on the other hand won his second-consecutive individual state championship in emphatic fashion.
The senior notched a ridiculous 29.32 in his first slalom run before managing a 32.62 on his reset second run. The two times smoked the additional 43 competitors by more than two seconds.
Hayes thought the day completed what was an unforgettable weekend on his home mountain with his state champion teammates.
“This whole week has really been amazing for my team and myself,” he said. “We really came together and it has been wonderful. I was definitely aware of the conditions and I knew a lot of kids were falling in specific spots. I personally worked hard to get to this point and it’s amazing that I was able to pull it off.”
It went a similar way in the afternoon’s giant slalom with landslide victories in both runs. Hayes logged times of 38.77 and 39.23 to finish first in the two runs by more than a second and then nearly a half second, respectively.
He raced as dominant as he expected to, however his success didn’t keep him from saying positive things about his competition.
“It’s tough for everyone considering the point system used for finals,” he said. “Everyone is trying their hardest out there and at the same time being cautious about the conditions. I knew I had to do the same thing in skiing on the edge while also being careful.”
Next on deck for Hayes is Eastern Regionals at Cannon Mountain in Franconia, New Hampshire.
He has already made a few wishes for the trip, none of which have to do with winning.
“I’m definitely hoping for better conditions up there,” he said. “The competition is a whole different league up there. I’m just going to have fun with it and not worry about falling. Last year I learned just to have fun with it because that’s the most important part of the sport.”
Below are the full lists of medalists and regional qualifiers from Monday’s action. To qualify for the Eastern Regionals, a skier must finish first or second-team All-State.
BOYS OVERALL
SKIERS: 1-Kyle Hayes, Vernon, Sr.; 2-Connor Devir, Ridgewood, Jr.; 3-Matt Tavares, Vernon, Jr.; 4-Matthew Dispenza, Pingry, Sr.; 5-Chris Andersen, Wayne Hills, Jr.; 6-Ian Lee, Bergen Catholic, Sr.; 7-Edward O’Keefe, Ridgewood, Sr.; 8-Tyler Mayes, Delbarton, Sr.; 9-Troy Livoti, Vernon, Sr.; 10-Jay Tobey, Pingry, So.
BOYS SLALOM
SKIERS: 1-Kyle Hayes, Vernon, Sr.; 2-Connor Devir, Ridgewood, Jr.; 3-Matt Tavares, Vernon, Jr.; 4-Chris Andersen, Wayne Hills, Jr.; 5-Matthew Dispenza, Pingry, Sr.; 6-Nicholas Zinno, Vernon, Sr.
BOYS GIANT SLALOM
SKIERS: 1-Kyle Hayes, Vernon, Sr.; 2-Adam Sujak, Don Bosco Prep, Jr.; 3-Connor Devir, Ridgewood, Jr.; 4-Ian Lee, Bergen Catholic, Sr.; 5-Branden Hawks, Morristown-Beard, Jr.; 6-Matt Tavares, Vernon, Jr.
GIRLS OVERALL
SKIERS: 1-Brianna Washburn, Immaculate Heart, Fr.; 2-Rosemary Collins, Pingry, Jr.; 3-Allison McConnell, Wayne Valley, Sr.; 4-Jane McKinley, Ridgewood, Sr.; 5-Ella Scarola, Mountain Lakes, Fr.; 6-Krista Poehlmann, Jefferson, Jr.; 7-Kristen Yi, Tenafly, So.; 8-Martina Brich, Vernon, So.; 9-Kyla Butler, Jefferson, So.; 10-Chloe Rayer, Blair, Sr.
GIRLS SLALOM
SKIERS: 1- Allison McConnell, Wayne Valley, Sr.; 2-Brianna Washburn, Immaculate Heart, Fr.; 3-Rosemary Collins, Pingry, Jr.; 4-Krista Poehlmann, Jefferson, Jr.; 5-Ella Scarola, Mountain Lakes, Fr.; 6-Jane McKinley, Ridgewood, Sr.
GIRLS GIANT SLALOM
SKIERS: 1-Martina Brich, Vernon, So.; 2-Brianna Washburn, Immaculate Heart, Fr.; 3-Jane McKinley, Ridgewood, Sr.; 4-Rosemary Collins, Pingry, Jr.; 5-Megan Yi, Tenafly, So.; 6-Allison McConnell, Wayne Valley, Sr.
REGIONAL QUALIFIERS
BOYS FIRST TEAM: Kyle Hayes, Vernon, Sr.; Connor Devir, Ridgewood, Jr.; Matt Tavares, Vernon, Jr.; Matt Dispenza, Pingry, Sr.; Ian Lee, Bergen Catholic, Sr.; Adam Sujak, Don Bosco Prep, Jr.
BOYS SECOND TEAM: Chris Andersen, Wayne Hills, Jr.; Will Lennon, Don Bosco Prep, Sr.; Brennan Chuang, Wayne Valley, Sr.; Branden Hawks, Morristown-Beard, Jr.; Troy Livoti, Vernon, Sr.; Tyler Mayes, Delbarton, Sr.
GIRLS FIRST TEAM: Brianna Washburn, Immaculate Heart, Fr.; Rosemary Collins, Pingry, Jr.; Allison McConnell, Wayne Valley, Sr.; Martina Brich, Vernon, So.; Jane McKinley, Ridgewood, Sr.; Ella Scarola, Mountain Lakes, Fr.
GIRLS SECOND TEAM: Megan Yi, Tenafly, So.; Kristen Yi, Tenafly, So.; Krista Poehlmann, Jefferson, Jr.; Ann-Sophie Kraemer, Pingry, Fr.; Camille Collins, Pingry, Fr.; Kyla Butler, Jefferson, So.