Feb. 18th-19th State Championships

Middle Park High School had a very successful trip to Frisco for the CHSAA State Skiing Championships. For the girls, it was a gold medal performance with the Panther Nordic skiers combining with the Panther alpine skiers to repeat as State Champions. In the individual classic race, the Nordic girls scored 164 points for second place, to Vail Mountain Schools 171 points. MPHS skiers finished as follows: Sam Berggren, 2nd; Sam Miyauchi, 8th; Makenna Morck, 11; and Sera Smith, 30th. In Saturday's mass start skate race, the Panthers again finished 2nd with 150 points to Vail Mountain School's 175 points. Sam Berggren strung the entire field out for over 4 kilometers, but was overtaken near the finish by Vail Mountain's Lauren Zdechlik to finish in the silver for the second day in a row. Other Panther finishers were Sam Miyauchi, 13th; Sera Smith, 24th; Kaylene Loo, 30th; and Makenna Morck, 33rd.

The Panther boys combined Nordic and alpine result was 7th place. In Nordic, the boys had the following classic finishes: Ben Shipman, 18th; Collin Papuga, 25th; Nick O'Conner, 38th. In the skate race, the boys finished with Ben Shipman, 20th; Tabor Miyauchi, 28th; Collin Papuga, 38th; Duncan Dearduff, 39th; Nick O'Conner, 47th; Cole Conger, 49th and Colby Zink, 53rd. The boys finished both Nordic races in 8th place as a team.

Feb. 13th

The MPHS Nordic skiers closed out their regular season with a classic technique race in Aspen on Saturday. Highlighting the afternoon was a first place finish by Junior Sam Berggren. With Panther captain and senior Makenna Morck recovering from illness and unable to race, Junior Sam Miyauchi stepped to the plate with a 9th place finish, her best of the season. The Middle Park Boys had a strong finish by captain Ben Shipman, 12th place. Collin Papuga was 21st, Nick O'Conner 26th and freshman Tabor Miyauch finished strongly in 30th, just outside of qualifying for the state meet in classic technique. Thirteen Panthers head to Frisco for the CHSAA state meet on Thursday and Friday.

Feb. 4th

Boys: 25 Tabor Miyauchi, 26 Ben Shipman, 27 Nick O'Conner, 29 Colby Zink, 31 Collin Papuga, 33 Cole Congor, 39 Duncan Dearduff, 42 Marcus Curran, 45 Sam Elliott, 48 Scott Malley, 51 Caleb Eatough, 52 Rhett Cook, 62 Aaron Barker.
Girls: 1 Sam Berggren, 10 Makenna Morck, 14, Sam Miyauchi, 16 Seraphina Smith, 18 Kaylene Loo, 24 Sydney Markle, 31 Anna Wolff.
The Middle Park Panther Nordic team competed on a very demanding course in Steamboat on Thursday. Top honors went to Junior Samantha Berggren, showing that her first place finish last weekend was no fluke. The race was an individual start freestyle race with competitors racing the clock, starting every 15 seconds. "Sam went out second, following one of the girls who has consistently beaten her this season. She raced smart, slowly working her way up to catch in the last kilometer, and then she just put the hammer down and gained another 15 seconds", reported coach Dave Zink, who added, "Kaylene Loo also was a standout today. She came so close to qualifying for the state meet last week, and this time she nailed it, with her finish in 18th place." Overall, the girls finished third for the day as a team.
The Panther boys had several members under the weather, finishing in 8th place out of 12 teams. Freshman Tabor Miyauchi had another strong finish, this time leading the MPHS boys to the finish in 25th place. The next race for the Panthers is a classic technique event in Aspen on Saturday, February 13, with the two day CHSAA State Meet to follow in Frisco on Thursday and Friday, February 18 & 19.

Jan. 30th

The Middle Park Panthers hosted their home meet on a sunny day at Devil's Thumb, Saturday, January 30. The overall field was reduced slightly because of a Junior Olympic Qualifier in Soldier Hollow, Utah, but the entire MPHS roster was represented. The race was mass start freestyle, and racers were treated to a very fast course.
The Panther girls took top honors as a team and cleaned house with Sam Berggren winning the race, Makenna Morck finishing 4th, Sam Miyauchi 7th and Sera Smith 10th. The rest of the girls had solid finishes, highlighted by Kayleen Loo recovering from a tough start and passing 20 girls during the race to finish just shy of a state meet qualifying time.
With four girls in the top ten, the boys had a tough act to follow, but their third place team finish was their highest of the season, and, most importantly, the boys earned three additional Panther spots at the state meet. Ben Shipman finished 5th and Tabor Miyauchi finished his third career Nordic race in 13th place. But MPHS skiers Duncan Dearduff (14th), Sam Elliott (16th) and Nick O'Conner (18th) all wore the big smiles with their first state qualifying finishes.
Currently, the Panther girls have four members who will be going to the state meet in February to defend their 2009 team title. The boys have eight members going. There are two races left this season, a freestyle race in Steamboat this Thursday, February 4th, and a classic race in Aspen on February 13th, and both will offer state qualification opportunities for more Panther skiers

Middle School Race Results