SVSEF Athletes Up To The Task At Hand
Athlete of the Week
Baseball players who have a complete set of skills are known as “five-tool players.” SVSEF student-athlete Logan Smith is equally adept at her chosen sports, which include cross country skiing, freestyle skiing and ice hockey.
Three weeks away from her 12th birthday, Smith won both U14 races at a Super Junior National Qualifiers at Soldier Hollow last weekend. For her exemplary effort, Logan is SVSEF Athlete of the Week.
“She works really hard and she enjoys it,” coach Kelley Sinnott said. “She is hard-working, committed and positive.”
Logan prevailed in classic sprint heats and came away with a four-second victory the following day in the U14 girls’ 3k freestyle, winning in 12:05.
“She skied a very smart race. We had a plan for that course and she stuck to it,” Sinnott said. “Not many kids that age have the maturity to do that.”
The oldest of three children, including Samantha and Tucker, Logan and family move to the valley in the winter so the children can participate on SVSEF teams, including cross country, alpine and freestyle. They reside in Boise during the off season.
Logan Smith on course. Photo by Hank Dart
Cross Country
According to assistant head coach Ashley Knox, the Sun Valley Cross Country Ski Team just completed their second of three qualifiers for the 2016 season. The qualifier took place in Soldier Hollow, Utah, the 2002 Olympic Venue. The Soldier Hollow Super Qualifier hosts teams from all over the West, including teams from Colorado, California, Oregon, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Utah. Sun Valley had 58 skiers competing, ranging in age from 7 to 19 years old.
Friday kicked off with a 1.3km classic sprint. The U16s and older skied a 1.3 KM qualifying round , top 30 in each age group qualify to move on to the heats where the top skier will race up to three more times competing in heats of 6. The U14s and younger skied one lap of either the sprint course or a 1KM loop for the U8s. SVSEF had 19 athletes qualify for the heats, led by Lily Brunelle qualifying in the top position for U16 girls, ending up in third after a long day of sprint rounds.
Highlights:
U8 Boys
McCallen Campbell- 1st
U10 Boys
Tucker Smith 5th
U12 Girls
Sammy Smith – 3rd
Novice Boys
Landon Paschall- 8th
Novice Girls
Isabella Bourret- 4th
U14 Boys (77 racers):
Cash Dart – 4th
U14 Girls (90 racers):
Logan Smith- 1st
Eva Grover 5th
U16 Girls (76) Qualified 6
Lily Brunelle- Qualified 1st, finished 3rd
Sophia Mazzoni and Ella Wolter advanced to the B final finishing 10th and 11th overall.
U16 Boys (113)
Qualified 2 out of 2 U16 guys
U18/20 Girls (89)
Qualified 3
U18/2 Boys (135)
Qualified 8
Lukash Platil won the B final, 7th overall
Saturday’s results courtesy of the Idaho Mountain Express –
Junior Men U-20 (ages 18-19), 15k: 2—Lukash Platil 42:06 (27.42 back, 4th overall). 17—Casey Shannon 45:01. 22—Danny Graves 47:57.
Junior Women U-20, 10k: 7—Loni Unser 36:10.
Junior Men U-18 (ages 16-17), 15k: 10—Peter Wolter 43:33 (19th overall). 11—Henry Raff 43:55. 23—Eli Jensen 45:18. 34—Cooper Roquet 46:21. 45—Ben Brunelle 47:22. 52—Carter Ros 47:56. 58—River Vorse 48:42. 70—Kiran Merchant 52:22 (123 finishers—30 U-20 and 93 U-18).
Junior Women U-18, 10k: 9—Anna Gibson 33:38 (11th overall, 2:21 back). 10—Annika Landis 33:41 (12th overall). 28—Emily Siegel 36:02 (83 finishers—14 U-20 and 69 U-18).
Novice Women, 3k: 9—Isabella Bourret 18:25 (21 finishers).
Novice Men, 3k: 8—Landon Paschall 13:26 (17 finishers).
U-16 boys (ages 14-15), 5k: 3—Johnny Hagenbuch 14:13 (30.64 back). 52—Joe Hall 16:11 (112 finishers).
U-16 girls, 5k: 11—Sophia Mazzoni 16:30 (47.65 back). 19—Kirsys Campbell 16:54.39. 20—Ella Wolter 16:54.98. 21—Eve Jensen 16:55.88. 25—Katherine Estep 17:06. 28—Lily Brunelle 17:10. 32—Laine Allison 17:19. 54—Michaela Petty 19:06 (75 finishers).
U-14 boys (ages 12-13), 3k: 21—Kai Nelson 11:46. 26—Sebi Radl-Jones 11:56. 51—Alex Shafer 13:25 (72 finishers).
U-14 girls, 3k: 1—Logan Smith 12:05. 2—Sascha Leidecker 12:09. 14—Luci Ludwig 13:06. 17—Eva Grover 13:10. 24—Elle Mann 13:39. 27—Kate Horowitz 13:42.15. 28—Tia Vontver 13:42.46. 38—Christine Estep 13:56. 54—Melissa Murcko 14:36. 68—Quinn Closser 15:33. 72—Sara King-Nakaoka 15:58. 75—Milan Pullen 16:26. 88—Anneka Thompson 19:39.
U-10 boys (ages 8-9). 1.3k: 5—Tucker Smith 4:20.
U-8 boys (ages 1-7), 1k: 1—McCallen Campbell 3:44.
Freeskiing
The Sun Valley Freeskiing Spectacular was staged at Dollar Mountain last weekend. Teams and skiers from Sun Valley, Missoula, Bozeman, Twin Falls, Pocatello, Park City, Utah, and Bend, Oregon, were in attendance. The event doubled as the Intermountain Division Championships.
Friday’s slopestyle event attracted a field of 60 boys and seven girls.
“It snowed over six inches during the event but athletes were undaunted,” SVSEF Program Director Andy Ware said.
SVSEF’s Sarah Kope of the Travel A Team was crowned Intermountain Division Champion in slopestyle. Hanna Blackwell was third and fourth overall, but came back the next day to capture the IMD championship in both halfpipe events.
12-year-old Ridge Dirksmeier won the IMD title in halfpipe Saturday, claiming victory in both events.
“He executed the most technical run to take the title,” Ware commented. “Technically, he skis way beyond his years.”
Harper Mallett and Jed Waters were second and third in the opening halfpipe. In the second, Alvaro Jiraldo and Mallett claimed silver and bronze.
Of the 28 skiers in the field Saturday, 23 represented SVSEF. Much to the delight of the crowd, two of the competitors were six years old; Barrett Beyer and Walker Woodring.
Age Class Results
Slopestyle #1/Slopestyle #2/Halfpipe #1/Halfpipe #2
Girls:
F11: Liesl Beyer (HP) 1/1.
F13: Amanda Brown (HP) 2/2.
F17: Sarah Kope (SS) 1/7; Hanna Blackwell 3/4/1/1.
Boys:
U7: Barrett Beyer 1/1/1/1; Walker Woodring 2/2/2/2.
U11: Anton Holter (SS) 2/1; Caden Clifford 3/2/1/1; Ted Hobbs (SS) 4/3.
U13: Harper Mallett 2/6/2/2; George Murray 3/4/3/10; Joey Markthaler 4/3/5/3; Sam Ware 5/11/13/11; Emmett Ruggeri 9/10/11/9; Ridge Dirksmeier 11/1/1/1.
U15: Jed Waters 9/13/1/1.
U17: Will Griffith 4/9/1/2; Alvaro Jiraldo 13/4/3/1.
U19: Trey Potter 5/2/1/1.
Freestyle
The SVSEF Freestyle Team tackled the bumps and competition at the Park City Freestyle Classic.
According to head coach Joey Cordeau, Henry Cherp, Luke Rizzo and Hunter Diehl swept the U15 class. Alex LaFleur continued his “incredible season” by finishing first in the M17 class and sixth overall against what Cordeau called “a stacked field of Nor-Am skiers and former World Cup skiers.”
With three top-10 finishes this year, F11 Samantha Smith qualified for Junior Nationals making her the youngest skier in the elite event next month in Sun Valley.
Addie Rafford (9th overall) was first in the F15 class followed by Eliza Marks in third. In the M13 class, Alex Austin skied to a bronze medal and 19th overall.
SVSEF skiers in the top right in duals were Samantha Smith, Luke Rizzo, and Hunter Diehl. Also competing for SVSEF were Katie Markthaler, Rainey Wilson, Devon Brown, Esmee Verheijen, Chris Pedersen, and Henry Buell.
Alpine
Coach Brett Jacobson reported the SVSEF highlights from the Western Region Speed Series held at Schweitzer Mountain in Idaho.
“The series finished off nicely with two super G races. This race series fulfilled the speed portion for qualifying into the prestigious U19 Nationals. Nice work FIS athletes, that was undoubtedly a week chalked full of variable weather conditions including rain, snow, sleet, wind, fog, and a brief moment of pure and delicious sunshine,” Jacobson said.
Results
Downhill #1/Downhill #2/Super G #1/Super G #2
Women: Haley Cutler: 5/3/1/3; Ruby Marden: 6/17/DNF/9; Erin Smith: 12/20/10/10; Katelyn Rathfon: 24/23/16/11; Sage Rheinschild: 25/28/18/17; Skylar Cooley: 8/12/20/24; Abby Norton: (SG) DNF/31.
Men: Duncan Fuller: 6/5/9/13; Hayden Terjeson: 25/31/11/5 (started 73rd/72nd in SG); Jay Fitzgerald: 36/41/22/11; Spencer Wright: 17/26/13/12; Charlie Lamb: 32/37/47/24; Will Snyder: 34/20/DNF/31; Kristian DeWolfe: DNF/52/38/32; John Blackburn: 48/33/14/27; Griffin Curtis: 25/31/17/36; Yuri McClure: 19/16/32/17; Walter Lafky: 28/35/36/DNF; Noah Leininger: 52/62/59/34; Hunter Kern 71/61/45/53.