Long Valley Youth Skier Hits Slopes in Championship Competition

While most of the U.S. cheered on its fellow countrymen and women in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia recently, one of Long Valley’s own was making her name on the slopes.

Carly DeLong, a sixth-grader at Long Valley Middle School, is heading to the Pennsylvania State Championship representing the Jack Frost Race Team and skiing in the slalom and giant slalom runs.

Hopping on a lift and heading down the bunny hill won’t get you on the team, rather, it took DeLong four competitions between January and February to amass enough points to reach this spot. Competing in the U12 division, DeLong placed fourth out of 41 skiers on Giant Slalom at Blue Mountain; eighth out of 43 skiers on the giant slalom at Jack Frost; sixth out of 45 in the Kombi (giant slalom and slalom combined); and eighth out of 41 on the slalom at Camelback Mountain.

The top seven racers (by points) are selected to the state championship. DeLong had the fourth highest amount of points in her region and will hit the slopes in three slalom and three giant slalom runs at Roundtop Mountain between Feb. 28 and March 2.