One makes it fun, two makes it true and three makes history for Summit High senior Seth Montgomery.
Seth won his third individual state title for slalom today in Vail. Yesterday he won his third title for giant slalom. It was the first time in Colorado history a high school skier has won three consecutive titles in either alpine discipline.
“It’s cool to win them all, but it’s more important to just have fun because at the end of the day it’s just a medal,” Seth told Krystal 93 between the podium ceremony and celebrating with his team.
Seth ruled with surgical precision on the slalom course, posting near-identical times on his first and second runs to beat runner-up Joshua Stephen of Aspen by nearly a second. Soren Shepherd of Steamboat finished third.
“It doesn’t seem very long ago that I won sophomore year,” Seth said. “After that I figured I might as well go for it and do all three years. It’s really cool I was able to. I feel lucky.”
One day after sweeping the GS field the Summit girls almost did it again. Sophomore Lauren Leffel and freshman Kaia Riter took second and third, respectively, behind state slalom champ Eden DeMino of Battle Mountain. Eden’s sister, Ruth, fell from third to fifth on her second run.
These stellar performances earned the Summit boys and girls a remarkable 45th state alpine team title. That is the most in state history, dating back to 1968. Aspen is second with 34 team titles.
As for the new state champ, Seth hardly gets 24 hours to rest before a club race with Team Summit at Breckenridge tomorrow.
“To all the people that are young, I say, enjoy ski racing because that is why we do it,” Seth said. “It’s not for the results.”
After graduating Seth takes a year off from school to focus full-time on club racing.