Submitted Photo Camille Deschamp with Bottineau Winter Park Ski Team competes in the Slalom at the Bob Hosking Central Regional Championships in mid-February in Marquette, Michigan.

BOTTINEAU – Recently completing a regular season impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, the Bottineau Winter Park Ski Team will be sending some members to championship competitions in March.

Coach Boyd Sivertson said Canadian ski clubs shut down during the pandemic, leaving the U12 (ages 10 and 11) and younger Bottineau racers without competition opportunities. However, the club invited Huff Hills, Mandan, to a fundraiser tournament during the season.

On the U14 (ages 12 and 13) and U16 (ages 14 and 15) levels, events were were limited to 100 athletes. Sivertson said the club often had to sign up its athletes in the wee hours of the morning when registration opened to ensure capturing a slot.

“Up against the challenges we have had, I am very happy with where we are at,” Sivertson said of the season.

The Central Region will be hosting its championship the second weekend in March in Michigan. Expected to attend from the Bottineau club are Trevor Bernstein, Owen Wilmot and Niklaus Halvorson, all of the Bottineau area, and Haydyn Schuler and Karl Behm of Minot. Due to pandemic cancellations, top finishers will not advance to further competition.

At the U16 level, Camille Deschamp of Bottineau will be attending the U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Rocky/Central Junior Championship in Steamboat, Colorado, the first week of March, based on her 14th place regional qualifying finish.

This year, regional events required racers to qualify to get into the competition. Selections were based on points during the season, which was a challenge because of cancellation of some race events due to the pandemic. Bottineau Winter Park racers face an additional distance disadvantage in that races in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and other states are all eight hours or more away.

Deschamp attended races in Wisconsin, where she secured two second places, and in Minnesota, where she had a second and a fourth place finish, which together qualified her as the ninth seed for one of 90 spots available in the 12-state Bob Hosking Central Region event in Michigan in mid-February.

Each racer’s top two finishes at the regional event were included in determining final placing. Deschamp finished sixth in the first Slalom race and secured a 16th place in one of two Giant Slalom races to finish 14th overall. Only the top 21 girls were selected, rather than the usual 45 to 50, to advance to the Rocky/Central Junior Championship.

Races at the Rocky/Central championship will consist of two speed events with Downhill and Super G; Super Combined with one run of Super G and one run of Slalom; Slalom; and Giant Slalom.

Deschamp also was selected to the Central Region Team, which includes the top six racers from each birth year. This was her third year of selection to the regional team.