Bishop Manogue's Hsu, Galena's Zaretsky take top Nevada skiing honors

It's a long way from the mountains around Lake Tahoe to the World Cup ski racing circuit, but Charlie Zaretsky hopes to shorten that road.

Galena sophomore Zaretsky, 16, took a step in that direction by winning both the slalom and giant slalom races on Thursday at Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe in the Nevada high school ski championships. He won the combined title.

Bishop Manogue won the overall boys team title, while Galena won the girls title.

Zaretsky won the slalom in 28.23 seconds, ahead of Damonte's Ryan Wilson (28.59), and the GS in 30.17, ahead of Manogue's Holden Woodruff (30.60).

Bishop Manogue junior Maya Hsu won the girls overall combined title, after defending her state title in the slalom. She posted a time of 34.74 seconds in the slalom, while Galena's Siena Ledesma was second in 37.10.

Zaretsky, who actually does his schooling online via Northstar Academy, said he has been skiing since he was 2 years old, but it took up until a year ago for him to realize he was faster than many of the skiers around him. He trains at Palisades Tahoe.

He said conditions were almost perfect Thursday.

"It was sweet. It was definitely a good race. I've had a great year this year," Zaretsky said. "It was good competition, though. It was definitely not guaranteed that I was going to do amazing. There are kids out here that can beat me."

He grew up skiing at Mt. Rose and said increasing his training recently has been paying off.

"I'd like to get on the World Cup and the U.S. Ski team and maybe do online for college education," he said. 

Manogue coach Scott Trabert said team camaraderie goes a long way to succeeding in high school racing.

"It's a great group. They've all gelled, and it's a young team. I only have two seniors," Trabert said. "Last year was tough, as we all know, (due to) COVID. This year, we were able to get out and be a team."

Trabert said he had so many kids come out for the ski team this season he had to hold qualifying events to select the top skiers who make the team that competed each week.

He said it was a different lineup each week, but led to greater competition.

Hsu, who said she started skiing in third grade, moved to Reno about a year ago; she grew up skiing around Lake Tahoe.

She is relishing her high school career and hopes to keep skiing in college.

"I enjoy it. I love it, so as long as I'm having fun," Hsu said.

Galena's Olivia Saenz won the girls GS at 32.13 seconds, ahead of Manogue's Ellie Ewing (32.78).

Reed won the girls ski team academic title for the best GPA (3.99), while Sage Ridge won the boys academic title (3.82 GPA).

State championship meet results

Girls GS

Olivia Saenz, Galena, 32.13   

Ellie Ewing, Manogue, 32.78   

Ruby Hutchinson, Reno, 33.21

Boys GS

Charles Zaretsky, Galena, 30.17   

Holden Woodruff, Manogue, 30.60   

Logan Reeves, Sage, 30.96 

Boys Slalom

Charles Zaretsky, Galena, 28.23   

Ryan Wilson, Damonte, 28.59  

Holden Woodruff, Manogue, 29.10 

Girls Slalom

Maya Hsu, Manogue, 34.74  

Siena Ledesma, Galena, 37.10 

Sophia Cerretti, Galena, 37.21 

Complete results will be posted on the NNSRL website. 

Jim Krajewski covers high school and youth sports for the Reno Gazette Journal. Follow him on Twitter @RGJPreps. Support his work by subscribing to RGJ.com.