Last year Yorktown senior Jack Mooney qualified as an alternate for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) championships. This year he wanted to make sure that he actually made it to the state championships.
Mooney did that by finishing in third in the slalom at the Section 1 championships at Hunter Mountain on Feb. 10, which gave him a spot on the Section 1 squad that will compete in this year’s state championships.
“I got 34.66 (seconds) the first run and a 35.48 on the second, which combined to 70.14. That put me in third place, .96 behind the leader,” Mooney said.
Mooney also finished in fourth in the giant slalom and third in the Ski Meister, which is an all-around honor that combines the best overall times for the four runs in both the slalom and the giant slalom combined.
“Going into the slalom, I was a little nervous because I was not sure of my placement on the giant slalom,” Mooney said. “I just needed to finish both runs and get good times for both. After completing my first run, looking at the timing online I was in fourth, this is what I needed to qualify for states, but I wanted to get third so badly to get a podium.
“Before my second run at the top my friends who went after me were telling me about the course and they all described a big hole in after the through gate. That hole messed me up a little bit on my second run, but I was able to make a really good recovery and post a great time locking in third place and Ski Meister.”
Mooney gives credit for his placement to his low bib (third for giant slalom and sixth for slalom) start.
“This gave me an edge up on my competition because I get a very good quality course,” Mooney said. “I also would say because my skis were waxed and sharpened perfectly, that gave me just that more confidence in my skis.”
Yorktown senior and captain Ryan Donnelly said that it is very exciting to have one of his teammates, Mooney, qualify for the state championships.
“This is the first racer from Yorktown to make states in the five years I have been on the team,” Donnelly said. “Jack has consistently placed in either first or second place in all of our league races and was highly motivated to qualify for states this year, especially since he missed out by so little last season. I am confident he will do great (at states) and make our team proud.”
The state championships for the slalom will take place at Alpine-Bristol Mountain Ski Resort on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
“I am beyond excited to go to states because I am going with all my friends from the section, the people I’ve been skiing [with] and see get so much better over the last three years,” Mooney said.
As a team, Yorktown finished second at the Section 1 championships.
“Finishing second to Horace Greeley by [1.1 seconds] was frustrating, but was an improvement from our fourth-place finish last year,” Donnelly said. “The team skied as well as we did this year because we were given a lot of practice time and were guided by our coach Wendy Nufer. She not only helped us grow as individuals but also as a team.”
The Huskers’ second-place finish was meaningful to Mooney.
“It means a lot to me that my team finished in second because I’ve seen them gotten so much better just over this year, and it is so amazing that all their hard work paid off,” Mooney said.
Gavin Appele (senior, captain), Andrew Callaghan (senior), Anthony Bartolini (junior), Eamon Hansel (junior), Charlie Zhong (junior), and Matej Pernica (sophomore, alternate), were the other members of Yorktown’s squad at the Section 1 championships.
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