Smithers Secondary School hosted the Northwest Zone ski and snowboard race last Friday at Hudson Bay Mountain, almost sweeping the team competition.
Nine schools from Prince George, Burns Lake, MacKenzie, Vanderhoof, Prince George and Fort St. James took part, with a total of about 160 racers.
The girls ski team of Tiana Adzich (1st place overall), Dyllan Blewett (2nd), Ashley Pence (4th), Claire Hinchliffe (6th) and Zoe Blewett finished in first place. The boys ski team of Michael Spicer (1st), Jason Oliemans (2nd), Andrew Nelson (5th), Brent Irvine (6th), Ben Holman and Trent Schibli also finished first.
On the snowboarding side, the girls SSS team also took first place. Team members include Katie Williams (2nd), Sarah Belford (4th), Grace Hollenberg (5th), Madison Mehr, Emilie Schmidt, Hannah Dehoog and Jerica Reay. The boys team finished second in team ranking, led by Daniel Oliemans (1st), Brandon Markert (6th), Colin Forster, Allan Dewijn, Dean Lachance and David Clougher.
All four teams will be heading to the Kimberley Alpine Resort for provincial finals, from February 28 to March 2.
Head coach Michelle Iacobucci said she was incredibly proud of the whole SSS team.
“It ended up just being a fantastic day,” she said. “It was a real team effort.”
The day started out with a bit of a delay, as the racers had to help clear a dump of fresh snow from the course that had been set the previous day.
“It threw me off a bit,” said Katie Williams, “but we train here every Sunday.”
Top male snowboarder Daniel Oliemans agreed.
“It was a challenge, but it was an advantage for us since we’re used to deeper snow,” he said.