Karla Byrne has her Lowell ski team ready for a unique second varsity season.
Lowell is in the OK White Conference and Region 5 of Division 2.
“Last year was our first time back to the racing scene for Lowell in about six years,” Byrne said. “Our girls team competed at regionals for the first time. Highlight of the year was having freshman, Kaylee Byrne, qualify as an individual for the state finals in both slalom and giant slalom. She ended up finishing the season with a 12th place finish in slalom and 13th place finish in GS.
“We are excited to have Kaylee Byrne back as a returning sophomore this year. New to the team is sophomore Preston Sobeck and freshman Colton Byrne, both of whom are also experienced racers. Returning this year and looking to improve on their times are sophomores, Cole Lillie and Olivia Torline. Returning senior and a member of the girls regional team last year, is Mattie Torline. We have grown our program from just seven athletes last year to 14 this year.”
The building program continues.
“As always, we are looking to build a solid team of skiers,” Byrne said. “Most importantly we want them to have fun participating in a sport they can do for a lifetime. Time will tell as we get time on the snow, but they all definitely share a competitive spirit.
We have seven athletes new to racing on the team, so learning to navigate the courses will be our top priority.
We hope to have both a competitive boys and girls team this year. Last year, we struggled as a team to gain enough points to be competitive, but we are hoping to turn that around this year.”