Wilton High Ski Team: State Champions for Class S

WILTON, CT — The Wilton High School ski team wrapped up a successful season at the State Open on March 2 at Mount Southington. Both the Wilton girls and boys teams took home gold medals for first place in Class S after achieving undefeated records in the regular season.

In the State Open race, Wilton boys achieved a combined 2-run team time of 284.29, placing them 1st in Class S and 3rd overall behind winner Pomeraug/Newtown (273.63) and Fairfield Prep (280.62). Junior Ryan van Heyst led the Warriors by placing 11th out of 140 racers with a 2-run time of 45.07. He was followed closely by senior captain Dominick Polito (14th; 45.45); sophomore Ryan Leung (23rd; 46.91); senior captain Ben Leung (29th; 47.39); junior Kiel Polito (44th; 48.97); and senior Philip Klinga (64th; 50.5). Also racing for the Warriors were senior captain Scott Verrilli, seniors Evan Charney and Jake Zeyher; and sophomore Eli Ackerman.

"It's been incredible," Wilton boys coach Mike Kaulins said. "This was the boys' third consecutive undefeated season with wins this year over Fairfield Prep and Ridgefield, to name a few. The key to the team's continued success is consistency. The boys are highly capable skiers who use every moment during the races to discuss strategy and technique. It's the reason we get to congratulate them on these well-earned wins and honors."

The Wilton girls' State Open time was 307.99, placing them 2nd in Class S behind Hand (300.24), and 8th overall. (Fairfield placed 1st, 281.42; Ridgefield 2nd, 283.12; and Hand 3rd). Junior captain Kira Howard led the Warriors in 20th place with a 2-run time of 47.86, followed by sophomores Sophia Polito (44th; 51.11), Dakota Kelly (45th; 51.13) and Abby Kyle (58th; 52.38); junior captain Alexandra Magnusson (60th; 52.47) and freshman Samantha Mims (66th; 53.04). Also racing for the Warriors were senior captain Megan Kaeyer, junior Caitlin Murnane, sophomore Casey Vanderwall and freshman Sloane Sullivan.

Wilton girls coach Bill Howard said: "At every race the Wilton girls outperformed my early season expectations. They did this by working hard at both dry land and mountain practices. On any given race day it was exciting to see which racer was going to put together her best runs and contribute to the team's score which resulted in their winning 1st place in their class!"

Complete team results may be found at cislracing.org