Redmond Proficiency Academy girls cross-country team skis to second place finish at Oregon State Championships

Redmond Proficiency Academy’s (RPA) girls cross country ski team took home second place overall at the Oregon State Championships held on Mt. Bachelor on Friday, Feb. 21 and Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020.

Bend’s Summit High School won first place, with RPA edging out Bend High School by six points to win second place for the second consecutive year.  

Senior Sarah Kilroy led the team by winning the Girls Classic with a time of 14:29.5 and the State Combined Individual title with a time of 28:48.2. Sophomore Katie Costello was fifth overall and and seventh in skate and fifth in classic. Senior Auna Pendergrass was 20th combined and in the classic race.  Junior Riley Johnson also participated in the championship events.  

“We were fortunate to have such great, sunny weather for our races this weekend,” Kilroy said. “For me, it’s always extra motivation racing on a sunny day like such; t-shirts on, smiles out and positive vibes all around.”

The team, which practices with both the Ridgeview and Redmond High School squads, is coached by David Smullin, a longtime ski coach, and RPA teacher George Hegarty serves as one of the team’s assistant coaches. 

“After skiing the individual start classic race, us RPA girls got together to assemble our relay team and strategize our play. Each one of us had a strong race and smooth “tag off” to the next skier,” Kilroy explained. “ Without the hard efforts of my teammates and technical support from the coaches, none of this would have been possible to the level we achieved.”