Zoe Bacca secures a win at USASA Nationals

Fifteen riders from the SVSEF Snowboard Team qualified for USASA Nationals; nine of them traveled to Copper Mountain, Colorado, to represent the program at the event. SVSEF stacked up a number of top-10 finishes. Phebe Eriksen finished eighth in the halfpipe, Caleb Hothem was ninth in the halfpipe. Aiden Green was sixth in the halfpipe and Landon Moore seventh. Payton Bacca rode well in both the halfpipe and boardercross, earning fourth in the pipe and fifth in boardercross.
Zoe Bacca owned the day, winning the national championship in the boardercross event in the Breaker Girls (12-13) class. The athlete won all four of her heats along with the final. The field consisted of 36 competitors from across the country; athletes from as far east as Maine and as far west as Washington convened to tackle the course for the final major competition of the year. Bacca blew the competition away, beating out Vermont’s Ty Schnorrbusch and Massachusetts’ Morgan Dardia.
“With a young team and strong finishes across the board, the SVSEF Snowboard Team looks to be in a good position heading into next season,” commented Snowboard Progression Beta Team Coach Andy Gilbert.

Zoe Bacca reacts after crossing the boardercross finish line in first

 
Top SVSEF finishes:
Payton Bacca- Fifth, Youth Women (14-15), boardercross
Zoe Bacca- First, Breaker Girls (12-13), boardercross
Channing Curci- 21^st, Breaker Girls (12-13), halfpipe
Phebe Ericksen- Eighth, Youth Women (14-15), slopestyle
Aidan Green- Sixth, Youth Men (14-15), halfpipe
Maddie Hothem-14^th, Menehune Girls (10-11), boardercross
Landon Moore- Seventh, Junior Men (16-17), halfpipe
 
Full results:
http://www.rockymountainseries.com/mobileusasa/2016%20Snowboard%20Results/
 

Hanna Blackwell takes the USASA National Championship title in halfpipe

USASA National Championships are currently underway at Copper Mountain, Colorado. SVSEF freeskier Hanna Blackwell took the win in the halfpipe for the Skier Women (13-15) category. Her teammates Ridge Dirksmeier and Joey Markthaler were third and fifth in the Skier Boys (10-12) category in the halfpipe, and Dylan Mills was 10^th in the same category. Will Griffith impressed and finished in ninth in the Skier Men (13-15) group in halfpipe. Competition at Copper continues through tomorrow.
 
Results:
Joey Markthaler- 11^th, Skier Boys (10-12), slopestyle
Ridge Dirksmeier- Third, Skier Boys (10-12), halfpipe
Joey Markthaler- Fifth, Skier Boys (10-12), halfpipe
Harper Mallett- Eighth, Skier Boys (10-12), halfpipe
Dylan Mills- 10^th, Skier Boys (10-12), halfpipe
Luke Higgins- 26^th, Skier Boys (10-12), halfpipe
Will Griffith- Ninth, Skier Men (13-15), halfpipe
Jedson Waters- 12^th, Skier Men (13-15), halfpipe
 
Full results:
http://www.rockymountainseries.com/mobileusasa/2016%20Skier%20Results/
 

Hanna Blackwell tops the podium

USSA Alpine finishes season at Snowbird

 
SVSEF alpine racers headed to Snowbird in Utah, where they competed in the Snow Cup April 6-10. Athletes raced super G, giant slalom and slalom throughout the week. This race series marked the end of the 2015-16 season, and the Bryce Astle IMD Intermountain Cup Awards were given at the end of the week; these were awarded to athletes based on overall results throughout the season. SVSEF skiers made their mark, with Lily Fitzgerald winning the IMD cup overall for women. Bennett Snyder was on the podium for the overall season. In slalom he was third, and he won the giant slalom overall title for the season; teammate Charlie Stumph was second in giant slalom. Lily was second in giant slalom for the overall season, and first in super G. Alli Rathfon was second overall for the super G season standings.

The team at Snowbird

Thirty SVSEF skiers raced in the actual race series. Standout performances came from Madison Ferris, who was second in the first super G race; Lily Fitzgerald was second in the second super G, and teammate Alli Rathfon skied to third. Bennett Snyder was fourth in the men’s second slalom event.
 
“It was a good weekend, with lots of kids scoring their career best point results for USSA; close to half the team accomplished this feat,” reflected USSA Head Coach Will Brandenburg. “To cap off the season, we went to a Real Salt Lake game – it was great to go as a team. This was a really amazing season – if there was a team overall award for the season, these athletes surely would’ve won the team IMD cup.”
 
Off-season training ramps up mid-May for the SVSEF athletes.
 
Full results:
http://www.ussa-imd.org/alpine/races15/U14.php
 

FIS at Mt. Bachelor

 
Competition starts today for SVSEF FIS skiers, who are at Mt. Bachelor, Oregon, for the Spring Speed series. Athletes will race super G and downhill for their final events of the season.
 

Team banquets

With the end of the season come the awards banquets:
 
Snowboarding: Tuesday, April 12, 6-8pm, Whiskey Jacques
Freestyle/freeskiing, comp home and above: Monday, April 18, 6-8pm, Whiskey Jacques
Alpine: Tuesday, April 19, 6-8pm, Whiskey Jacques