After eleven weeks of on-snow practice, three HHS students qualified for the State Meet at Giants Ridge on Wednesday, Feb. 10th.

On Thursday, Feb. 4th, the Hopkins Alpine ski team finished 5th for boys, and 4th for girls. Although neither team qualified for State, boys racer Jens Melby, senior, and girls racers Sarah Hoffman, freshman, and Lily Melby, eighth grader, qualified as individuals.

Lily is looking forward to a good race, because the steep pitch suits her skiing style. Hoffman feels much more confident with a previous state race under her belt. Jens plans to ski aggressively and hopes to finish well at his last State race.

Jane Kleinman, Alpine coach and Health teacher, is excited to see how the racers compete.

Especially Jens and Hoffman, who raced the State Meet last year, as well as Lily, who will be participating in State for the first time.

“We had a great day of training today and got some practice on steeper pitches to prepare for Helsinki [Hill],” Kleinman said, “We think that the cold temperatures tomorrow will keep the snow conditions very consistent.”