Fairfield co-op wins 7th straight State Open girls ski championship

The Fairfield co-op girls skiing team continued to rule the slopes at the CISL State Open Championships.

Fairfield won the Connecticut Interscholastic Ski League Stateo Open title for the seventh straight season on Tuesday at Mount Southington, finishing with an impressive team time of 321.08 seconds.

Staples was the runnerup with a team time of 323.39 seconds, followed by Ridgefield (324.74), Weston (324.74) and Daniel Hand (331.06). Weston and Ridgefield finished in a thirdplace tie.

Greenwich placed sixth in the team standings (334.8), Southington was seventh (336.38) and Wilton finished eighth (342.19). Darien (352.47) and Joel Barlow (362.67) rounded out the top-10 girls teams at the CISL State Open Championships.

Lauren Harris of Weston captured the State Open individual skiing championship. Harris finished her first run in 25.36 seconds and posted time of 24.73 seconds to finish with an overall time of 50.09.

Southington won the CISL State Open boys team championship, posting a team time of 288.56 seconds. Ridgefield was the runner-up (292.25), while Fairfield Prep placed a very close third (292.93).

Weston had a fourthplace finish (294.9) and Staples was fifth (296.67). Wilton (298.96), Darien (299.8), Greenwich (304.58), Daniel Hand (306.33) and Fairfield (306.49) were sixth to 10, respectively, in the team standings.

Brunswick School’s Jose Riera was the race’s winner at the State Open, finishing his two runs in 45.84 seconds. Riera finished his first run in 23.63 seconds and his second in 22.21 seconds.

In the CISL girls State Open competition, Kira Howard of Wilton placed second in the race with a time of 50.53 (26.01, 24.52). Grace Mahmood from Southington finished third (25.76, 24.85 — 50.61) and Greenwich’s Sophia Bastek placed fourth (26.45, 24.44 — 50.89).

Emma Nelson of Weston (51.05), Maddie Steele from Staples (51.62), Emilie Waters (Daniel Hand, 51.65), Julia Ann Gregory (Weston, 51.69), Mikaela Fleming (Fairfield, 51.74), Isabel Redrup (Ridgefield, 51.75).

The top-15 finishers were rounded out by Ridgefield’s Riley Peters (51.96), Fairfield’s Kelsey Brown (52.53), Lane Anderson (Darien, 52.55), Hayley Buckman (Staples, 52.8) and Lauren Tsai (Ridgefield, 52.84).

Lizzie Vatis (53.58, 18th place), Sierra Salts (53.78, 24th place) and Michaela King (54.63, 28th) were champion Fairfield’s other top finishers.

Hayley Buckman (52.8, 14th), Isabelle Gerrard (53.44, 17th), Kayla Sirlin (53.71, 22nd) were among the top five skiers for Staples.

Ridgefield was also paced by Riley Peters (51.96, 11th), Lauren Tsai (15th, 52.94) and Julia Bragg (54.21, 27th). Ryan Delaney (32nd, 55.4) was one of Weston’s top finishers.

Greenwich was also led by Victoria Glaser (21st, 53.71) and Eleanor Ybarra (55.09).

On the boys’ side, Nick Jacobs of Southington was the runner-up behind Riera with a time of 46.71 seconds. Declan McNamara of Ridgefield finished third (46.98), followed by Alec Zackin (Pomperaug, 47.05) and Kyle Vaccarella (Fairfield Prep, 47.13).

George Visnic (Fairfield Prep, 47.18), Jakob Robinson (Ridgefield, 47.37), Christian Bastek of Greenwich (47.46), William Kallman of Brunswick (47.47) and August Theoharides (47.49) rounded out the top-10 boys finishers.

In the boys’ team standings at the CISL State Open, Weston finished fourth (294.9), Staples was fifth (296.67), Wilton placed sixth (298.96), Darien took seventh (299.8) and Greenwich was eighth (3:04.58).

Caleb Richert (12th place, 47.89 seconds) had Southington’s second-best time, while Tristan Meccay (18th place, 48.23) was Weston’s second-best finisher.

Matt Sisca of Greenwich placed 17th with a time of 48.18.