As a part of their New Zealand training trip, the FIS crew raced in the Cardrona FIS series August 1 and 2. The athletes competed in giant slalom and slalom, and competed against skiers from around the world; Germany, Canada, South Korea, Great Britain and Italy were some of the countries represented at the races. A total of 14 SVSEF FIS skiers and two alumni competed; John Blackburn, Duncan Fuller, Yuri McClure, Noah Leininger, Ian Hanna, Carter Jendrezak, Jake Blackburn, Matt O’Connor, Max Noddings, Filippo Collini, Stockton Troyer (SVSEF Alum), Will Snyder (SVSEF Alum), Ruby Marden, Ella Pepin, Skylar Cooley and Grace Pepin represented the organization.
In the ladies’ giant slalom, Skylar Cooley and Ella Pepin had strong results in a field of 45 skiers, finishing 12th and 19th, respectively. Standout performances in the men’s race came from Yuri McClure, who posted his second best point result ever and placed sixth out of 91 racers. Filippo Collini made huge strides, rising to 20th place from start number 83. Will Snyder, a SVSEF alum, finished 16th.
In the slalom races the next day, Ella Pepin broke the top 10 with a ninth place finish in a field of 40 racers. Skylar Cooley was right behind her in 10th, and Grace Pepin had a strong race, landing in 12th. A number of SVSEF men had notable results in the slalom. John Blackburn finished 17th out of 84 competitors, which was his career best FIS point result in slalom. Filippo Collini was 21st, again moving up significantly in the start list, this time from 70th. Matt O’Connor finished 24th, also making big gains from his start number of 79. Yuri McClure was 26th, Carter Jendrezak was 30th, Max Noddings was 35th and Jake Blackburn was 37th.
The FIS athletes will continue training at Roundhill Ski Area until they travel to Coronet Peak for two giant slalom and two slalom events, August 8 through 11.
For full results:
Ladies’ Giant Slalom
Men’s Giant Slalom
Ladies’ Slalom
Men’s Slalom