Sam Rein, Hailey Bentley win Section 9 alpine titles at Hunter Mountain

Sam Rein of Monticello and Hailey Bentley of Cornwall took the individual Section 9 alpine skiing crowns at Hunter Mountain, delivering performances that anchored team championships for their schools and set up several local athletes for the state meet.

Rein won the boys individual title with a two-run total of 66.57 seconds, skiing 33.46 in one run and 33.11 in the other. Monticello converted that individual strength into a boys team title, posting a combined team time of 213.15 seconds. Goshen finished second at 218.03, Warwick third at 232.50, Monroe-Woodbury fourth at 233.86, Sullivan West fifth at 235.03 and Cornwall sixth at 239.46. Several boys squads were listed as incomplete and did not post full team scores.

On the girls side, Hailey Bentley captured the individual Section 9 title and Cornwall claimed the girls team championship with a combined time of 233.88 seconds. Warwick finished a close second at 234.41 and Monticello was third at 239.07. Sullivan West placed fourth at 290.58. Record results list multiple incomplete girls teams that did not register full scores.

Record meet results name the Monticello boys roster headed to the state meet: Sam Rein, Guiliano Francisco and Christiano Bastone, joined by Hudson Danzilo of Liberty, Logan Gottlieb of Goshen, Santino Haffner of Tri-Valley, Anthony DeVenuto of Monroe-Woodbury and Macsen Mariani of Cornwall.

The Section 9 results carried over into the New York state meet in Wilmington, where Cornwall’s girls program captured the NYSPHSAA championship with 91 points; Shenendehowa finished with 78 and Windham with 71. Individual state-meet performances from area skiers included Mackenzie Culgin of Cornwall, who placed seventh in Monday’s giant slalom with a two-run combined time of 1:56.60, 4.29 seconds behind winner Ava Bachta of Shaker. Samantha Lawney of Cornwall was 12th in the giant slalom (1:59.07) and rose to sixth in Tuesday’s slalom (1:46.82), 7.84 seconds behind slalom champion Piper Dock of Glens Falls. Culgin was eighth in the slalom in 1:49.14; another Cornwall entry listed as Conklin placed 27th in Tuesday’s slalom in 2:11.77. Monticello’s Alexis Heins placed eighth in Monday’s giant slalom. Compilations of team placement at state show Section 9 girls placing fourth overall while Monticello’s boys finished eighth and Section 9 boys sixth overall.

These results matter to Orange County beyond trophies. Local school programs provide structure, exercise and community for student athletes at a time when youth physical activity and mental-health support are public health priorities. At the same time, alpine skiing requires equipment, season passes and travel to mountain venues, which can create financial and transportation barriers for low-income families in the county. Successes by Monticello and Cornwall underline the value of sustained school support and community fundraising to keep access equitable so talent across Orange County can emerge.

What comes next is state-level follow-through: the skiers who qualified will compete for state medals and local programs will be evaluated on how they build on this momentum. For readers, these results spotlight Orange County athletes to watch and reinforce conversations about resources and access for winter sports across the region.