The Wilton boys ski team gathers before a recent race at Mount Southington.
Contributed photo / Wilton skiingIn the final race of the regular season, the Wilton High ski teams had one of their best performances this year.
Competing Feb. 12 at Mount Southington, both Wilton teams defeated their head-to-head Class S opponents to end the regular season unbeaten in the division. The Wilton boys were also first overall, and the Wilton girls finished second overall.
The Wilton boys had a team time of 256.68 seconds, finishing nearly 20 seconds ahead of Ridgefield (275.99), which was second overall.
“This [Feb. 12] race is a testament to how driven to win and sports savvy this team is,” boys coach Michael Kaulins said. “The skiers — boys and girls — made some astute observations about the course during their first runs and were able to turn them into big wins.”
The Wilton boys placed seven skiers in the top 20 overall (out of 140 competitors). Junior Ryan van Heyst was second in a combined two-run time of 41.02 seconds, with seniors Dominick Polito (third, 42.29), Scott Verrilli (seventh, 42.89) and Phil Klinga (eighth, 42.94) and sophomore Ryan Leung (10th, 43.69) also finishing in the top 10.
Senior Ben Leung was 11th in 43.85 to round out Wilton’s team time, and junior Kiel Polito added a 15th-place finish in 44.7.
For the Wilton girls, junior Kira Howard led the way by placing third overall (out of 134 skiers) with a combined two-run time of 44.50 seconds.
Also contributing to the Warriors’ team time of 303.92 seconds were junior Alexandra Magnusson (18th, 49.13), senior Megan Kaeyer (25th, 50.8), and sophomores Dakota Kelly (32nd, 51.81), Lexi Hine (35th, 52.3) and Casey Vanderwall (55th, 55.38).
Notes: Both Wilton teams have qualified for the upcoming State Open championships at Mount Southington.