By Frank Rizzo
FRANCONIA, NH — March 30, 2001 – Veronika Dlouha of the Sullivan West ski team finished her competitive ski career last weekend at Cannon Mountain in Franconia, New Hampshire.
The Eastern States Skiing Championship featured the top skiers from numerous states, and it was a United States Ski Association event hosted by the Franconia Ski Club.
Dlouha, who finished second overall at the state championships, took second in the slalom a day after falling in the giant slalom.
“She fell right in front of me,” said SW ski coach John McCormack. “She was a little disappointment because the giant slalom is her strong event and it was the first time she fell this year.
“If she hadn’t fallen I think she would have placed in the top five overall,” McCormack added.
Dlouha is an exchange student from the Czech republic. Her sister Klara won the Eastern States several years ago when she was here on an exchange program. Veronika got to meet Klara’s host parents, who made the trip from Maine to see her at the meet.
“This was tougher than the state course,” McCormack said. “Every time you go up a level, the courses get harder. It was a beautiful hill.”
This was the first year Sullivan West has had a varsity ski team.
“It was quite and experience for a first-year coach,” McCormack said. “I don’t know if it will happen again soon.”