In 2024, as a sophomore, Scarsdale’s Stella Van Arsdale returned from the state championships with two top-10 medals, taking 10th in giant slalom and ninth in slalom.
This year’s girls state slalom championship won’t be contested until Feb. 24. But Feb. 23, at Bristol Mountain in Canandaigua, Van Arsdale, the 2026 Section 1 girls skimeister, continued her dominating season by medaling again, placing fifth in GS at the state championships.
Section 1 boys skimeister Derrick Crivelli, the Brewster freshman who was 14th at states in GS last year, medaled with a sixth-place combined, two-run time of 2:08.09.
The boys win went to Carson Cheney of Section 2’s Johnstown in 2:02.58.
Only 37 of 63 boys and 43 of 63 girls who started the GS races completed the required two runs to gain placement.
Van Arsdale, who’ll play soccer in college, finished with a combined two-run time of 2:12.01.
She described herself as “ecstatic” with taking fifth.
Kirsten Matzky of Section 5’s Pittsford took gold in 2:06.31 after a fast 1:02.75 initial run.
Fox Lane senior Brynn Anthony also medaled. Her two-run time of 2:12.93 placed her eighth, while Mamaroneck’s Meghan Love just missed a medal by .04, her 12:14.89 putting her 11th.
After battling tough course, Crivelli earns medal and texts from siblings
In medaling at states, Crivelli joined familiar (and familial) company — his older brother, Lucas, and older sister, Mia.
He noted immediately after finishing his second run, he opened congratulatory texts from both.
“Lucas texted me said how I did a good job. Mia said how proud she was of me. That was a nice sibling moment there,” Crivelli said.
Crivelli skied like a veteran on a tough course many couldn’t handle.
“It was a fight to get down today,” he said. “There wasn’t a lot of surface to grip on. …. It was weird. …. On some turns the powder was really soft, then, two turns down, it was really chunky ice and bumping all over. It was almost like a rollercoaster.”
“Really, today I was focusing on getting down the hill,” he said.
Crivelli said he knew prior to starting his second run that he wasn’t in a position to move up to first, so he decided to “be aggressive but also ski smart.”
“I was going for it, but was kind of skiing conservatively on the second run,” he said.
Tuesday, he said his approach will be different because he thinks he can finish in the top three in slalom.
He has a good starting position, going 12th, so the course shouldn’t be chewed up when he goes down.
“I’m definitely going to go more aggressive,” Crivelli said. “I know where I fall — in the fifth or sixth area. … I’m not going to go a little more — I’m not going to say crazy — but I’m going to try to win tomorrow, rather than (just) get down the hill clean.”
Van Arsdale and Anthony cheer each other to medals
Van Arsdale and Anthony might be from different schools but years of skiing against each other has also made them friends who root for one another.
“With Brynn, we’ve raced against each other for three years. We’ve grown so close. Everyone in Section 1 roots for each other,” Van Arsdale said, noting after finishing runs, skiers radio back to the top of the hill to other Section 1 skiers to let them know about course conditions.
Van Arsdale’s fifth-place finish was especially sweet after she left states disappointed last year with her in 15th-place showing in GS and 17th-place finish in slalom.
“I’m really, really happy, especially with the growth from last year. This is just really special to me,” Van Arsdale said.
She noted she was only the fourth girl down the GS slope for her first run and didn’t encounter the ruts Anthony faced. But they were there for her second run.
“It was so bad,” she said, noting her time was slower as a result and her goal was “just finish.”
Van Arsdale entered Monday seeking a top-10 finish and said she’ll do the same Tuesday with slalom, which she likes better than GS.
Anthony described most of the turns as “pretty rutty” and said she tackled that problem by keeping a lot of pressure on her outside ski.
Anthony, who has skied for Fox Lane since seventh grade and said she has “made a lot of good memories” through high school skiing, is skiing at her fourth state championship.
In medaling, she realized her goal going into states.
“My goal today is I wanted top 10,” she said.
Noting she doesn’t plan to ski competitively after this season, she added, “I just wanted to give it my all, since this was my last GS race.”
Other local finishers
Three other Section 1 girls finished in the top 20. Mamaroneck’s Sarah Krolicki was 15th, John Jay-Cross River’s Willow Lutz was 16th and Hen Hud’s Rachel Budde took 17th.
Rounding out the Section 1 girls, both Mahopac’s Victoria Hrncir and Mamaroneck’s Maggie Roseberry recorded top-30 finishes with Hrncir 25th and Roseberry 27th.
Dobbs Ferry’s Costanza Corte had a strong first run but didn’t finish her second run and both Hen Hud’s Fotini Schattman and Hastings’ Georgia Schmit ran into first-run problems and, failing to finish, couldn’t take a second run.
All will start fresh with Tuesday’s slalom, however.
Among Section 1 boys, Irvington’s Harrison Gredick was 14th in 2:13.33.
Three others captured top-20 slots with Camel’s Alex Dudjak 18th, Yorktown’s Jack Mooney 19th and Fox Lane’s Chase Hamilton 20th.
Horace Greeley’s Henry Holmquist was just outside that in 21st. Hastings’ Andre Zuk also got top-30 in 28th.
Greeley’s Gabe Hessert finished 32nd.
After solid first runs, both John Jay-Cross River’s Porter Bysshe and White Plains’ Kellen Doherty couldn’t finish their second runs and Greeley’s Edward Yang didn’t finish his first.
Tuesday’s skiing will determine not only the slalom winners, but also the overall top girl and boy finisher, the top girls and boys teams (Mamaroneck is the Section 1 girls team entry and Greeley is the Section 1 boys entry) and the top section (out of eight statewide) for both girls and boys.
Nancy Haggerty covers sports for The Journal News/lohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Van Arsdale, Crivelli, Anthony medal in giant slalom at state ski meet
Reporting by Nancy Haggerty, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
