Sun Valley Freestyle & Freeskiing Spectacular 2017 Schedule
Sun Valley Freestyle & Freeskiing Spectacular – 2017
Find the schedule here
The Week in Review: 1/24/17
I AM SVSEF
This is the third week of I am SVSEF: an opportunity each week to highlight our athletes for demonstrating the core values of the organization.
Sportsmanship • Citizenship • Character • Teamwork • Creativity • Passion • Perseverance
Here are the I Am SVSEF athletes featured for the week of January 23, 2017:
ALPINE: Madda Mourier-Floyd, a fourth grader at Community School, recently moved to the valley from California. Her ski experience prior to relocating was minimal, in the form of the occasional ski trip with her family. Even from the start of dryland training, Madda’s coaches recognized her athletic potential. Madda has worked hard to turn that potential into personal growth and progress; after essentially just one month of skiing, she was the second SVSEF finisher in the first Nastar girl’s race. Coach Brian Caulkins credits her development to not solely her athleticism, but her willingness to give 100% every day, her positivity and the respect and support she shows to her teammates.
CROSS COUNTRY: Ava Lavigne, age eight, attends Hailey Elementary School. Dave Bingham, Cross Country Devo Head Coach, recounted how Ava constantly come to practice eager to learn and improve:
Ava approached me after New Year's asking for a training plan to make her a better athlete. She has focused on learning technique perhaps more than any Devo skier I've ever seen, exemplified by her daily requests to work on specific technical skills and her pursuit to earn advanced ‘skill badges,’ usually only achieved by older team members. With dogged enthusiasm and a hard driving work ethic, Ava sets a positive example for the whole team.
FREESTYLE: Sammy Smith, a fifth grader who spends winter in Sun Valley and fall and spring in Boise, is a member of both the Freestyle Travel B Team and the Cross Country Prep Team. Talented beyond her years and stature, you wouldn’t know it unless you saw her for yourself out on the course; she is quietly fierce, extremely hardworking and incredibly humble. Eager to help her coaches, congratulate her teammates and take on whatever challenge comes next, Sammy is an athlete who even older teammates look up to.
PARK & PIPE: The Park & Pipe “I am SVSEF” athlete this week is Lachlan McFarland, a sixth grader at Community School. Conor Davis, Freeski B Team Coach, describes how Lachlan faced challenge head-on in Park City, persevering through any doubt and apprehension that naturally came with initial exposure to the halfpipe.
As a coach I was really impressed with Lachlan’s first travel trip to Park City this past week. All of our athletes were thrown into the halfpipe contest last Thursday morning with no prior training this year. In the hour of training before the contest, I was really impressed to see all of the athletes putting their game faces on. After his first training run, Lachlan commented as we were riding up the chairlift, “I forgot how scary the half pipe is.” By the end of the day, however, Lachlan had overcome his fear and was spinning left and right 540’s, and riding switch down the pipe. He even earned himself a second place medal for his age group. On our last run of the trip he announced, “I forgot how much fun the halfpipe is! I can’t wait to have our halfpipe open so that I can train this week.” I’m excited to see Lachlan’s confidence continue to overcome uncomfortable or scary situations in the future, and to watch him progress as both a skier, and as a young adult.
SNOWBOARD
Gold Team: Chase Josey wins LAAX event in Europe
Chase Josey, SVSEF alumni and current Gold Team snowboarder, has again proven his ability to capitalize at big events and to stay calm under pressure that comes with the territory. Earlier this season, Chase took third at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper in December. This past weekend, he won the LAAX Open men’s halfpipe in Switzerland, which was established this year as part of the FIS World Cup tour and describes itself as “the most important snowboarding event in the European mountains.” The Hailey native pulled out all the stops on his third run, laying down multiple doubles and ultimately out-finessing competitors Scotty James of Australia, and Iouri Podladtchikov, the Sochi Olympic champion fondly known as iPod and hailing from Switzerland. Chase’s result pushed him into the leading position on the FIS points list. (USSA Snowboarding)
Full results here
Further reading
All SVSEF Snowboard: Baldy Banked Slalom
The sixth annual Baldy Banked Slalom took place Saturday, January 21. Nineteen hand-made berms were built for the course that wound down the side of Baldy, from the top of Warm Springs to I-80. Each competitor had two opportunities to get down the course as quickly as possible; the start list ran from top to bottom, then got switched up and went bottom to top for the second run. The top prize for the event was a coveted spot in the Baker Banked Slalom, which is now in its 31st year and is so popular that a portion of the entries for the event have to be chosen by lottery. Competitors can qualify through results at other banked slaloms, which is the case with the Baldy Banked, along with 11 other similar events, staged from Maine to Switzerland to Japan.
The event drew 107 competitors, from pros to young kids – SVSEF current athletes as well as alums and parents threw their names in the mix. Elk Spencer and Aidan Greene made a dent in the pro-open division, with the ninth and tenth fastest times in a field of 33. Clara Jenner, a SVSEF alum, took the women’s race with a time of 50.891 seconds. Rick Millett, SVSEF Snowboard Coach, narrowly missed the win in the men’s pro-open, taking home second place.
The Baldy Banked Slalom is a unique event in its layout and its inherent nature; it is an important celebration of snowboarding in Sun Valley, and this year it was a great opportunity for SVSEF to be together as a team and for athletes to support one another in an all-inclusive environment.
Full results here
CROSS COUNTRY
Devo/Prep/Comp/PG/Gold: Sun Valley JNQ
SVSEF hosted Intermountain’s second Junior National Qualifier, with a classic sprint on Saturday and a distance skate race on Sunday. A big thank you goes out to everyone who helped in making the event, which hosted over 300 athletes from across our division, a resounding success.
By Ashley Knox, Cross Country Comp Team Head Coach
The cross country team had a great weekend of racing on their home course. We had a beautiful day of classic sprint racing on Saturday; the tracks were in great shape and the SVSEF crew came out ready to throw down. Sunday brought us some snow and a hard distance skate course filled with lots of killer uphills and flying downhills.
For the Prep Team, Sebi Radl-Jones had a great result in Sunday’s skate race, finishing 15th in the U16 boys category. Sammy Smith raced up an age group into the U14 girls and took third place. Taylor Dorland put in a great effort and took the win in the Novice category on Sunday.
For the Comp Team, the highlight of Saturday’s classic sprint race was seeing four SVSEF girls in the U16 girls final and Chloe Tanous’s breakout result of sixth place. Peter Wolter and Eli Jensen skied two very strong laps of the challenging 5KM course on Sunday and took the top two podium spots for the U18/20 men. Eve Jensen had her career best Junior National Qualifier result, coming in seventh in the U18/20 Women.
This was the second Junior National Qualifier of the season and the team seems to be finding their form. We had some great results and some kids are really starting to see the fruits of their labor. As always, the team is ready to keep training hard and is looking forward to racing in the third and last Junior National Qualifier in West Yellowstone, Montana, February 11-12.
Full results here
Gold Team: Super Tour in Truckee, CA
The Super Tour continued in Truckee, California, with a classic sprint on Saturday. Jack Hegman missed the men’s A finals but ended up in seventh overall. Teammate Rogan Brown was 17th. Deedra Irwin was also seventh overall for the women, Mary Rose was 13th and Annie Pokorny was 14th. Unfortunately, Sunday’s 10/5km skate race was cancelled due to weather and large amounts of snow.
Men’s sprint results
Women’s sprint results
Gold Team: Cole Morgan qualifies for FIS World Championships
SVSEF Gold Team skier Cole Morgan has been named one of 17 athletes who will represent the U.S. at FIS World Championships in Lahti, Finland next month – the first event is February 23. Cole, a very strong sprinter, edged out Ben Saxton, an SMS athlete for his sprint spot; as the two were tied in sprint points, it came down to their fourth race, where Cole edged out Ben in the U.S. Nationals skate sprint qualifier. (FasterSkier) The event, which runs February 22-March 5, draws the top cross country athletes from around the world. It will be live streamed on NBCsports.com
Read more about the team
FREESTYLE
All Freestyle: Park City Freestyle Classic
SVSEF Freestyle athletes, from age six and up, competed at the Park City Freestyle Classic Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a two-run singles competition, and Sunday was supposed to have both a one-run singles and duals seeded from singles; due to extreme weather with 70mph winds, athletes competed in the one-run single event only; duals were cancelled. This competition had a high-level point value, as there were a number of top athletes in attendance, including some who are on the Nor-Am Tour. Points from this event go towards qualifying for Junior Nationals and Nationals.
Seventeen SVSEF athletes performed well despite their limited access to moguls training. Holden Largay continued his podium streak, making this the fifth competition straight in which he’s secured a top-three finish – he podiumed both days (third on Saturday, second on Sunday). Wilson Dunn had his top performance of the year thus far, pulling out a back X and a loop with a grab, which landed him fifth overall on Saturday and making it onto the podium for M19s against a tough field. Said coach John Grigsby, “Wilson really stepped it up – he had a fifth on day one and on day two he still made top ten, which was huge for him. He’s putting stuff together now that he’s getting time and experience at a training venue.” Addie Rafford was sixth on Saturday in the women’s competition, and teammates Esmee Verheijen and Eliza Marks finished eighth and 11th.
The big story of the day for Sunday was a M17 podium sweep; Henry Cherp won, Luke Rizzo was second and Alex LaFleur third; this was a big deal, as it was a high-level competition for these athletes with a total of 55, male and female, in attendance. The girls also stepped it up, with Addie Rafford taking third, Eliza Marks ninth and Liesl Beyer 15th.
This weekend, Freestyle and Freeski athletes will compete at home at the Sun Valley Freestyle & Freeskiing Spectacular. Freestyle events kick off Saturday at 10:15 a.m. – stop by if you have a chance to support SVSEF Freestyle and Freeski athletes.
Saturday results
Sunday results
FREESKI
Travel Team: Park City
Seven SVSEF Freeski athletes traveled to Park City for the first USSA halfpipe and slopestyle competition of the season. For most SVSEF athletes, this was the first time they were able to train in the halfpipe this season. All of the athletes performed well, with some placing in their age groups as well as overall. The purpose of competitions like this one is not to chase points, but to gain experience of competition and to gain confidence in slopestyle and halfpipe. It takes many hours of airtime training to build the skills and ability to take it to the next level. Joey Markthaler finished second in his age class in the halfpipe, Lachland McFarland was third for his age class and Hanna Blackwell was first in her age class and third overall.
According to Tyler Conway, Freeski Head Coach, the slopestyle course at Park City was one of the best, with jumps comparable in size to the ones on the Dew Tour. Said Conway, “as a team, we have not skied jumps this size yet. Everyone on the team stepped up to the challenge and performed their best slopestyle runs for the conditions and size of the course.” In a slopestyle event, you have to complete every feature on the course to get a good score. Will Griffith had another solid performance in slopestyle – his run featured a first rail blind 270, second rail front 450 out, third rail front 270, first jump switch right 540 mute grab, second jump rodeo 720 safety grab and third jump double cork 900 (dub9) safety grab, landing him second in his age class.
This weekend, Freestyle and Freeski athletes will compete at home at the Sun Valley Freestyle & Freeskiing Spectacular. Freeski events kick off Thursday at 10:15 a.m. – stop by if you have a chance to support SVSEF Freestyle and Freeski athletes.
Results to come
ALPINE
Sammis Camas Camp and Downhill
SVSEF Alpine athletes are currently in Fairfield, Idaho, at Soldier Mountain for an intensive speed camp from Monday, January 23-Wednesday, January 25. This is an exceptional opportunity for SVSEF athletes to hone skills on applicable terrain that is closed to outside parties. Monday consisted of a terrain camp, complete with drills and stations focusing on aerodynamics, technical turns, glide turns, terrain adaptation, jumping and tactics. Today, athletes will fit in training runs and the Sammis Camas race. The idea is to build on the skills practiced on Monday, run sections in the morning and full length runs in the afternoon. The Sammis Camas race will be the final run of the day. Wednesday, the final day of the camp, has USSA and Master’s races on the schedule and is intended for older athletes only.
U14 Speed Project at Grand Targhee Resort, Wyoming
The Grand Targhee Speed Project is easily the best camp offered for the U14 age group anywhere in the country; the timing of the camp along with what it is able to offer is pretty unique. With exposure to speed terrain and a carefully orchestrated breakdown of the different elements of a speed course, athletes have the opportunity to further develop their understanding and education of all the different pieces of technical and tactical components. An athlete typically has to be a U16 and from a western region; this camp is put on for the Intermountain Division, and is for 12-14 year olds, allowing them to get good, in-season exposure that will ultimately make them more successful in competition. This is the second year of the camp.
Grand Targhee designates a number of parts of the main mountain to building out five different sections of speed training. The three-day camp features a day of skiing education, video and feedback, a day focused on volume, and a third day that links it all together in one long track. Said James Tautkus, IMD Head Coach, “turning in speed courses is so much different than in tech courses, and learning patience to let that turn build is really transferable. Our kids don’t normally have exposure to that; capturing this as a younger athlete is pretty radical.”
USSA: Wes Barron Speed Series
The Wes Barron Speed Series at Jackson Hole was USSA scored, open to U14s and older and ran Friday through Sunday with three Super Gs. In a large field that had U14, U16 and U19 athletes, SVSEF skiers managed to secure solid finishes, despite the obvious disparity in age difference. The intention with this series was to get valuable mileage; to get more experience under the belt, to get into the start gate, to improve competition skills and fundamentals. With all the hype around racing, it’s sometimes hard to direct any degree of focus towards becoming better athletes overall. Coach James Tautkus put it well when he explained that “anytime you have the opportunity to compete, it’s an opportunity to know where you’re at; it affirms what you’re already doing right and shows where things need to improve. We had some shining lights there this weekend, and all of the kids took something away from the experience.” The challenge for the weekend was to slow it down, to execute as best they could every day and take their skiing further. As first year U16s, the SVSEF athletes are challenged to build a longer turn than they were used to at the U14 level, which had smaller skis and smaller turns. SVSEF skiers took to the challenge, showing interest in watching feedback video and making improvements along the way – the team is taking this thing that they love and trying to make more out of it. The effort showed in their results every day, even if that meant climbing up the ladder by a couple spots.
Sage Holter was the girls’ top finisher on Friday in 18th. Merumo Ishimaru jumped up from bib number 128 to 31st. Ridley Lindstrom was 15th in the boys race, Johannes Liaboe 18th, Ryder Sarchett 19th (up from bib 33) and Josh Blackburn 22 (up from bib 51). On Saturday, Carly Walther-Porino was 19th in a field of 99 racers. Cailin Chandler, Sage Holter and Ella Koplin went 21-22-23. Ridley Lindstrom just missed top-10 on day two, finishing 11th. The boys’ field was also large, with 87 competitors. On Sunday, Falon Hanna stepped up and into 18th for the girls, and teammate Marit Kaiser went from bib 52 to 23rd. Ridley Lindstrom continued his consistency, ending up in 19th on Sunday, just ahead of teammate Ryder Sarchett in 20th.
Full results here
FIS: Squaw Valley
FIS athletes headed to Squaw for a series of racing, only to be met with rough weather conditions and three races of the four cancelled as a result. Said Brett Morris, SVSEF Women’s FIS Head Coach and Mental Conditioning and Performance Coach, “the one GS that was completed was really challenging. The Red Dog race venue at Squaw is a steep and challenging hill with lots of terrain. This is the same hill that they will run the women’s World Cup on later this year. In addition to the challenging hill, the snow was so soft that the course eroded really quickly making for extremely tough conditions.” Despite the conditions, SVSEF athletes did a great job of navigating a tricky course. Yuri McClure was third for U19s and ninth overall, and Julian Plank skied phenomenally from the back of the group to finish seventh in U19s and 17th overall. Haley Cutler finished sixth overall, and Erin Smith came in third for U19s and eighth overall.
Complete men’s results (U19s are YOB 1998-2000)
Complete women’s results
The Week in Review: 1/17/17
I AM SVSEF
This is the second week of I am SVSEF: an opportunity each week to highlight our athletes for demonstrating the core values of the organization.
Sportsmanship • Citizenship • Character • Teamwork • Creativity • Passion • Perseverance
Here are the I Am SVSEF athletes featured for the week of January 16, 2017:
ALPINE: A sixth grader at Wood River Middle School, Paige DeHart embraces all aspects of the sport of alpine skiing as a member of the North Series Team. This past weekend, she was the ladies’ victor on Saturday at Snow King, and was leading the race following her first run on Sunday until she went down on the second run, just five gates from the finish. Said Scott McGrew, Alpine Program Director and North Series Head Coach, “despite the fact that she didn’t make it through Sunday’s race, Paige was an all-star in how she dealt with it. There were a few moments of disappointment, then full recovery to back supporting her teammates and having a great time. She is a phenomenal teammate, a great competitor, and a beautiful skier. She loves this sport, and it shows.” On top of all that, Paige goes above and beyond with her level of commitment; last Friday night at Rotarun, she showed up in -16 degree weather to get in that extra training.
CROSS COUNTRY: Peter Wolter, a senior at Community School, is an example of how an athlete can lead both by example and by establishing a strong, positive presence on a team. Coach Ashley Knox noted that “he always brings a great attitude to practice and is a great team leader.” Peter makes an extra effort each year to put together a team fleece, jacket, etc.; he cares about the cohesiveness of the group and recognizes the value of the team as a support network that is essential for success, forged from mutual respect and a common mindset amongst athletes. Peter demonstrates how athletic success and leadership are not mutually exclusive, but in fact build each other up; he has pre-qualified for Junior Nationals with his results at Senior Nationals.
FREESTYLE: According to coach John Grigsby, Katie Markthaler, a tenth grader at Wood River High School and a member of the Freestyle Travel A Team, “has made huge improvements in her skiing over the past few weeks, and her jumping has improved greatly.” This is attributed, in part, to an awesome attitude and a positive outlook; she’s come a long way over a short period of time. On top of all that, she’s a great source of support to her teammates when it matters most.
PARK & PIPE: A sixth grader at Community School, Charlie Price comes to Freeski Travel Team training every day on time and fully dedicated to the task at hand. Observed coach Tyler Conway, “I’ve watched him crash a few times and end up a little frustrated, but he gets right back up and tries again.” Charlie stands out with his ability to listen and observe, to really absorb and process new information. His willingness to learn sets him up for success, both on the hill and off.
THE WEEK IN REVIEW – 1/17/17
CROSS COUNTRY
Gold Team
By Chris Mallory, Gold Team Head Coach
In Tuesday's 20/30km mass start classic races, the loop was shortened to a 3.75km lap on a majority of man-made snow which made for good klister skiing. A big rain storm came through the day before, wiping out much of the natural snow, but Soldier Hollow luckily has some impressive snow making capability. The day started with the men's 30km where Rogan Brown had another standout distance race, repeating his seventh place finish from a couple days prior in the 15km skate. More known for skating ability, this was a great race for him.
On Thursday, the week wrapped with a skate sprint qualifier. This was the final race used for U.S. Team selection for World Championships in Lahti, Finland, a month from now. About an hour before the start a significant snow storm rolled in, which really slowed the trail conditions down, but still allowed for a fair race with everyone dealing with the change. Cole Morgan continued his string of strong sprint results taking the second American spot on the day to Logan Hanneman of APU, and was closely followed by roommate/teammate Jack Hegman who was the third American a half second back. Apparently you live together, you race together! The Canadians raced strong this day taking the top three spots.
The women's race then followed with Kelsey Phinney having a strong showing as the fifth American, and top U23, solidifying her spot on the U.S. U23 World Championship team a couple weeks from now, back in Utah. Cole and Jack will join her representing the U.S., January 30th-February 5th at Soldier Hollow.
With Matt racing World Cups the next few weekends in Europe, the rest of the team will be headed to Truckee, CA, this weekend for another SuperTour Race series before coming back to race the Boulder Mountain Tour here in town. Then it’s to the Midwest for SuperTours in Michigan and the American Birkiebiener for the rest of February.
Full results here
ALPINE
North Series Team
The North Series Team had their first big weekend of racing at Snow King Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. A total of 30 athletes competed in two giant slalom events, January 14-15.
By Scott McGrew, Alpine Program Director and North Series Head Coach
This past weekend was awesome for the North Series Crew. They brought an incredible game, and represented our community very well. There were some solid standout performances this weekend. The ladies commanded the event, pushing eight into the top 10 on Saturday and seven into the top 10 on Sunday. Paige DeHart lead the way on Saturday with an overall victory, while teammate Goldie Kirk had a fantastic weekend with a pair of silver medals. We saw a huge number of podium positions for SVSEF athletes at all age categories, including Dakota Barth’s U14+ victory and Taylor Hovey finding the U10 podium. In an extremely competitive field, the men put together a nice day with Tommy Normand landing in fourth position and Cole Curci climbing to claim second place overall. Our younger boys were charging hard and learning some super valuable lessons along the way. The amount of talent in that group is really solid and going to be fun to see develop.
We had a number of athletes new to ski racing at this event, which was really cool. The level of attention to detail required to unlock the secrets to this game are extraordinary and it was fun to see the spark of excitement in the eyes of all of our SVSEF athletes (and parents).
We have an awesome community of parents, and this weekend we had the opportunity to make a bunch of new friends and build more layers of support for our kids. Having a strong parent community is extremely important to providing the best possible experience for our athletes and I was super stoked to be able to spend time with everyone. Lots of fun was had by all.
Full results here
FIS
FIS athletes John Blackburn, Yuri McClure and Filippo Collini traveled to Waterville, NH for a FIS series last week. A cancelled flight and missing bags made for a challenging transition into race mode, as the boys missed all days of potential training. Races took place Wednesday in soft conditions; Filippo Collini finished 33rd in the first slalom. Thursday’s giant slalom race was cancelled due to fog, and athletes completed two giant slalom races on Friday (in order to fit the second giant slalom in, only the top 45 athletes competed in the second run of the second race). Collini was 35th in the first giant slalom of the day.
Said Nate Schwing, FIS Men’s Team Head Coach, “this series brings together the top U19 Men in the country for two days of training and four days of racing. There were some good skiing moments within the runs from the boys. The U19 men’s field is strong; maybe the best field I have seen from that age group. Our guys have the potential to compete at that level but we need to continue to fine tune some aspects of our preparation to have the confidence to execute our best skiing in consecutive runs.”
Full results here
FREESTYLE
Freestyle Travel Team
SVSEF Freestyle spent the weekend at Snowbowl in Missoula, Montana, for a USSA Northern Division competition. The field was relatively small, with 38 total men and 12 women in competition; SVSEF brought 21 athletes to the event. The event was pertinent in that it gave SVSEF valuable time on a moguls course, and it helped in getting points towards Junior Nationals and Nationals. Saturday was a two-run singles event, and Sunday had two events – a one-run singles qualifier, followed by duals. Katie Markthaler skied really well, ending up on the podium; her skiing improved dramatically over just the past week. Luke Rizzo and Alex LaFleur both skied extremely well; Alex was really consistent and Luke took the win for duals. Wilson Dunn was fourth in the qualifier, and Holden Largay won Saturday in singles, followed by Alex in second. Sammy Smith took second on Saturday, followed by Katie in third. The Freestyle Team has a quick turnaround, leaving Sun Valley again this Thursday for Park City at The Canyons; the following week, they’ll be competing on their home turf.
Results have not yet been posted.
Prep Team
A number of SVSEF Freestyle/Freeski Devo athletes took it upon themselves to travel to Park City for Intermountain Freestyle Devo slopestyle and mogul events at the Utah Olympic Park, January 13 and 14. Charles Goodyear placed second in slopestyle and second in moguls for age class 2005, while Alex Leahy placed third in both slopestyle and moguls for age class 2007. Hunter McLaren was third in moguls for age class 2005, Nic Rubinstein first in moguls for age class 2006 and Austin McMahon fifth in moguls for age class 2007.
Commented Jennifer Diehl, Freestyle/Freeski Prep and Devo Team Manager, "what impresses me most about these kids is that they went out there and took what they have been learning at ski team, applied it to a competition that they were a little nervous about, and gave it their all. And, without a coach at the event! That is what we are trying to instill in the athletes at the Devo and Prep levels: always be open to try new things…you might enjoy one discipline more than another, but you won’t know unless you give it a go!"
SVSEF Achieves USSA Gold Level Club Certification
The United States Ski and Snowboard association (USSA) announced that it has elevated SVSEF’s club certification from Silver, which was originally awarded in 2014, to Gold, the highest honor possible. According to USSA, “this level of certification is intended for clubs that are Best in the World. These clubs serve as a model, both organizationally and athletically, and are resources to the sport as a whole in the U.S.” The designation of a club as Gold level is not an examination, but rather an opportunity for USSA to assess a club’s current situation and determine areas of need. Gold certified clubs possess a heightened level of accountability to maintain and build upon areas of both strength and improvement, to ensure the longevity and stability of the organization and to help, through feedback and observation, to grow the cumulative strength of clubs throughout regions and across the country.
Commented Ellen Adams, Club Development Manager for USSA, “USSA’s Podium Club Certification Program is designed to recognize excellence and create a platform for continued improvement. The process to achieve Podium level certification involves a rigorous, mission driven self-assessment and review of best principles and practices in eight areas of organizational performance. As a Gold certified club, SVSEF has demonstrated excellence in all areas and is recognized as an important partner of USSA and a leader among USSA Clubs. We look forward to continuing to work together.”
SVSEF is honored to receive this premier recognition from the national governing body of our sports, and to be included as one of the very best junior snowsport programs in the nation. Other Gold level clubs include Burke Mountain Academy, Mammoth Mountain Ski and Snowboard Team, Stratton Mountain School and Ski and Snowboard Club Vail, to name a few. In conjunction with Gold level status, SVSEF will have access to heightened professional development opportunities for staff, support from club development expert consultants, discounted rates on consulting services, and the opportunity to be considered for the USSA High Performance Club Partnership Program, which opens up the potential for designation as a U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team development site or high performance center.
“SVSEF’s new certification level combined with the U.S. Olympic Committee classification as an official Olympic Training Site clearly identifies SVSEF sport programs as setting an extremely high standard of quality, direction and content,” said Phil McNichol, SVSEF Athletic Director. “These accolades help assure we are striving in the right direction to reach our mission, which is ‘to provide exceptional snowsport programs for the youth of the Wood River Valley thereby enabling each participant to reach his/her athletic potential, while developing strong personal character through good sportsmanship, strong values, and individual goals.’”
The Week in Review: 1/10/17
I AM SVSEF
SVSEF values of sportsmanship, citizenship, character, teamwork, creativity, passion and perseverance are not ones that are newly championed; they are qualities that have held weight and importance for hundreds of years, across many societies, eras, continents. Perhaps we may think of character as the overarching quality that encompasses all of the other SVSEF values; sportsmanship, citizenship, teamwork, creativity, passion and perseverance all fit under the distinction of mental or moral qualities, which, by definition, make up a distinctive individual’s character.
Athletic success is invigorating, affirming and surely within reach of our athletes, in whatever ways they choose to define it. It is certainly something we strive for with these kids, to help them achieve what they have come to define for themselves as success in sport. Perhaps more than this, and in a way not necessarily discernible from an observer’s perspective, our hope is that lessons learned while in the organization become ingrained, so that they may be useful later in life. Yes, an affinity for athletic greatness is all well and good; but in future endeavors, I’d bet that character traits learned here and now will prove much more useful in the different communities, relationships and challenges in which our athletes find themselves.
In 1900, a year before his first term as president, Theodore Roosevelt addressed the importance of character in relation to intellectual and athletic success in an article for The Outlook.
But, in the long run, in the great battle of life, no brilliancy of intellect, no perfection of bodily development, will count when weighed in the balance against that assemblage of virtues, active and passive, of moral qualities, which we group together under the name of character; and if between any two contestants, even in [college] sport or in [college] work, the difference in character on the right side is as great as the difference of intellect or strength the other way, it is the character side that will win. (The Outlook, Vol. 64, 725)
Roosevelt’s assessment of how crucial strong, positive character is for an individual lends itself to SVSEF’s focus on developing “strong minds,” of helping prepare our athletes for whatever is thrown their way, and to set them up for success.
With this in mind, we’re introducing I am SVSEF: an opportunity each week to highlight our athletes for demonstrating the core values of SVSEF.
Sportsmanship • Citizenship • Character • Teamwork • Creativity • Passion • Perseverance
Here are the I Am SVSEF athletes featured for the week of January 9, 2017:
Alpine: Ethan Marx, an eighth grader at Community School and a member of the Alpine USSA Team, has worked really hard throughout summer training and into the on-snow season. A goal this season for Ethan has been to make the flip 30 – to place 30th on his first run in order to be the first competitor out of the gate on the second. This past weekend, he narrowly missed his goal with a 31st place finish – his enthusiasm and positivity around the prospect is infectious, regardless of your interest in alpine racer lineups. According to USSA head coach Will Brandenburg, “Ethan is always helping his teammates out, and his actions and words are good for morale; he is the epitome of what we’re talking about when we think of qualities we’re hoping are instilled in SVSEF athletes.”
Cross Country: Taylor Dorland, an eighth grader at the Sage School, is a new member of the Cross Country Prep Team after switching from alpine. Kelley Sinnott, Cross Country Prep Team Head Coach, observed, “learning a new sport can be very difficult and frustrating but Taylor has shown strong character, passion and perseverance through her learning process. Taylor is the kind of skier that manages to grit her teeth and grin at the same time; she is eager to learn and improve but also finds fun in ever part of cross country.”
Freestyle: Eliza Marks, a 10th grader at Community School, brings a really positive attitude that lends to the dynamic of the Freestyle Team. She shows up training every day with passion and interest. In competition, even on a bad day that doesn’t necessarily go her way, she doesn’t let it get her down and approaches the next challenge with confidence and anticipation. Coach Kurtis Fieguth commended Eliza for “taking to hear the advice we try to give her, and taking it to the snow – she’s made huge improvements over the past month and a half in doing so.”
Park & Pipe: Arlo Curry is a seventh grader at the Sage School and is a member of the Snowboard Progression Team. He comes to training with a great attitude, a smile on his face every day and a level of engagement that indicates a profound interest and enthusiasm for the sport. Said snowboard team manager Pat Lee, “Arlo performs to his highest standard at all times. He embraces challenges that arise and is committed and diligent to working through them. On top of that, Arlo is a great communicator, which is really helpful for the coaching staff.”
THE WEEK IN REVIEW – 1/10/17
CROSS COUNTRY
Comp, PG, Gold Teams
The SVSEF Cross Country Comp, PG and Gold teams are currently midway through the 2017 L.L. Bean U.S. Cross Country Championships at Soldier Hollow in Park City, Utah. For many athletes across the U.S., Nationals are a pivotal week of racing; solid results can help an athlete qualify for World Cups, U23 World Championships and Junior Nationals. Top athletes from programs and universities across the nation are in Utah for the events, with numbers in attendance close to 600. Overall, courses were quite hard, which is befitting for a national championship event. “As hard as our trails are at Lake Creek,” said Rick Kapala, SVSEF Cross Country Program Director, “these trails are a little bit harder, in anticipation of U23 Worlds, which will take place at the same venue at the end of this month.”
Competition opened up on Saturday, January 7 with a 15/10km interval start skate race. The first day of racing was not really affected by inclement weather, which hit Sunday. But for the first athletes, which were the junior girls, it was tough all around, with cold temperatures, slow snow and a very challenging course. A standout performance for the day came from Gold Team skier Kelsey Phinney, who has typically been stronger in sprint events; with a 26th place finish in a field of 263 women in the 10km, Phinney is setting herself up as a viable contender for a spot on the team for U23 World Junior Championships; she is currently sitting in second with two more races to go this week.
Sunday’s classic sprint race came a drastic shift in temperature, and with it a downpour of rain. Despite the unfavorable conditions, morale on the SVSEF team was really good; kids handled it in stride and managed the challenges the weather presented quite well, which Kapala feels may be a natural extension of the relatively new normalcy of weather extremes in the West. Athletes competed on a newly designed sprint course, and were on some natural snow. It was unfortunate that the rainy weather fell on a classic sprint day; every team at one point or another struggled in regards to skis and getting the wax right for their athletes across the board.
The highlight of the day for SVSEF was an American podium sweep, in a way, as Kevin Bolger, who won the men’s sprint overall, is a former SVSEF PG athlete, and Gold Team skiers Jack Hegman and Cole Morgan went two and three.
Other than Peter Wolter, the junior squad is relatively inexperienced at this level, so these races are a great first step at exposure to higher level racing, in anticipation of them aging and getting into the mix. SVSEF junior boys skied quite well, with Peter Wolter, Eli Jensen and Keene Morowitz all qualifying for junior heats (the top 30 moved on from the initial qualifier). Morowitz had a very noteworthy qualifier, which was a really good indication that he has found his form.
Junior girls were led by Anja Jensen, who as a 14 year old very narrowly missed qualifying. Said Kapala, “for us as coaches, we look beyond the wins with developing athletes – cause that’s not going to tell the story of a 14 year old racing against 20 year olds. This was a tough course with tough conditions, and these girls are just getting started, as most are sophomores or young juniors.” A number of Jensen’s teammates just missed the cutoff as well.
Going into the next two days of races, Hegman is looking really strong for qualifying for U23s – he needs one more decent race to nail it down. Hegman is sitting in first for qualifying, as Patrick Caldwell pre-qualified with early season results. Morgan is also looking good, currently in second; if selections were made based off of the first two races, he would make the team. As he is a sprinter, he’ll have a chance to cement that seed in the race on Thursday. Phinney is also sitting well, in second on the list with two races to go. Five to six athletes, male and female, can qualify for U23s.
Matt Gelso, who has posted exceptional results this season, is down for now with a head cold; it remains to be seen if he’ll have another start at Nationals. Noted Kapala, “Gelso is going to World Cup races later this month regardless, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to push him to the point where it impacts him down the road – we’re going day-by-day with him.” The end goal is World Championships, and even though the process for qualification weighs Nationals a bit heavier than Super Tour races, good results in Europe could get him there. “We want him to go to Europe rested, recharged and ready to race to his abilities; a lot of the competitions there fit his ability set really well,” said Kapala.
Today’s race is a 30/20/10/5 km classic. Athletes will be skiing on a condensed 3.75km loop, made entirely of manmade snow as a result of the rain on Sunday. Thursday’s race is a skate sprint.
Full results here
Devo, Prep, Comp Teams
SVSEF athletes who did not make the trip to Nationals opted for the Snowmaker Classic on Saturday, which is a local classic race. This year, it took place on Sun Valley trails, and athletes selected either ten, five or 3 km for distance. Temperatures were in the double digit negatives when race organizers arrived, and start time was postponed to allow those to rise. This was a good training opportunity for SVSEF athletes, as it gave them experience pushing their bodies on a relatively flat course in extreme temperatures.
Full results here
ALPINE
USSA Team
It was a good weekend for the Alpine USSA team, which competed in Jackson, Wyoming, at Snow King. The event was a qualifier, and SVSEF saw some athletes who made the top 30 for the first time. As a group, the team is in quite a good position to have a number of skiers qualify for Regionals. Overall, 30 girls and 26 boys will qualify, and there are two more opportunities left to make the cut. It was a cold weekend of racing, which made it hard to get a good warm up; the weekend saw less skiing and more time in the lodge. Said USSA head coach Will Brandenburg, “that makes it tough to be able to get into the groove of the weekend; it makes a major difference. The athletes handled the adjustment well.”
Lily Fitzgerald had an amazing weekend; she swept the races, not just for U16s, but overall, and won by over 1.5 seconds each time. At the Eric Hayes Memorial races, she had success but not as much as she wanted to. According to Brandenburg, “she had a good mindset in training the two weeks over Christmas break; she’s been building on her skiing and getting better, and we’re starting to see that hard work pay off. Another highlight of the weekend was having SVSEF boys on the podium for every U16 race; Buey Grossman took second in the first giant slalom, and teammate Jack Smith was second in both the second giant slalom and the slalom.
Full results here
IMD Team
Alpine IMD was in Park City over the weekend for the Park City Jr. IMD Cup. Reflecting on the weekend, head coach James Tautkus said, “this past weekend was a good test of our team’s strength from top to bottom. It affirmed our efforts thus far and indicated where we need to put in the work. As a staff we are very proud of what these athletes have been capable of and hope it encourages them to take their effort to the next level."
SVSEF did well across the events, claiming three out of six first place finishes between men and women. Ryder Sarchett took the men's overall title for the weekend by winning the slalom and the second giant slalom. Anhwei Kirk won the slalom and was third in the first giant slalom. Marit Kaiser was second in both GS races and Nathan Gowe was fifth in the slalom, sixth in the first giant slalom and second in the second giant slalom. Josh Blackburn was fifth in the first giant slalom and his sister Jessica was third in the slalom.
Full results will be posted soon
FIS Team
FIS athletes were also met by extreme cold in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for the IMD Cup events. Temperatures sat around -25 the first day of racing and -26 the second. Athletes faced the elements head on; top finishes were posted by Jake Blackburn, who had two top-ten results in the giant slalom events, Carter Jendrezek, who finished out the weekend in eighth in the slalom, Libby Kaiser, who maintained consistency across all races, going 16-14-11, and Grace Pepin, who jumped up from results in the 40s and 50s on January 6 and 7 to 15th in the slalom on January 8.
Full results will be posted soon
FREESKIING
The SVSEF Freeski A-team made a trip to Colorado last week. Will Griffith competed for the chance to make the Rev Tour in slopestyle, and Hanna Blackwell spent her time logging significant training hours in the halfpipe.
Griffith skied two stand-up runs, scoring highest on the second. Skiing into the first rail, he spun a front 270 out landing switch, went backwards into the first jump spinning a right side 360 with tail grab landing switch, continued backwards into the second jump spinning a left cork 540 with a Japan grab, skied forward off the third jump spinning a left rodeo 720 with a safety grab, landing forward and sliding the last rail spinning a back 450 out. Griffith, who just turned 16 years old, ended up in sixth place. He competed against Yuki Sato (20 years old) and Gen Sasaki (20 years old), who are both from Japan and who are trying to make a bid for the Olympics in 2018. Said freestyle head coach Tyler Conway, “being at an event like this and seeing what it takes to get first place at this level of competition helps an athlete develop mentally and prepares them for future events.”
Hanna Blackwell also traveled to Colorado to train in Copper Mountain’s halfpipe. This halfpipe is one of two open in North America; the other is in Calgary. Hanna was not the only athlete taking advantage of the feature; David Wise, halfpipe Olympic Gold medalist and three-time X-Games Gold medalist, was training on the same halfpipe. Commented Conway, “it takes a lot of repetition and exposure in the halfpipe to get better. We’re looking forward to having the halfpipe at Dollar complete soon, as it will allow SVSEF athletes to have the advantage of getting in laps and pushing their halfpipe skiing skills.”
Full results here
FREESTYLE
The Bumpin’ at the Bird course at Snowbird proved more than adequate for SVSEF Freestyle athletes, who took to it this past weekend. The event counts towards overall rankings and for qualifying for Junior Nationals and U.S. Freestyle Championships. SVSEF had four boys in top 10 the first day, with Holden Largay winning overall, and teammates Brody Buchwalter, Luke Rizzo and Alex LaFleur going five-six-seven. On the second day, SVSEF had four in top ten again, but this included different athletes, which speaks to the spread and range of the team. Alex LaFleur made a ton of improvements, and coach Kurtis Fieguth commented that his run on the second day was the best he’s seen from LaFleur thus far. Luke Rizzo was on a similar trajectory, making significant improvements over the weekend – both seemed to learn a lot about their form throughout the events. In the girls’ competitions, Eliza Marks finished strong in duals, with a second place finish overall. Addie Rafford was third in moguls. Said Fieguth, “all of our kids skied really well, especially going up against strong skiers in the division; they really held their own.”
Results can be found here (Sunday’s results aren’t yet posted)
The Week in Review – 12/27/16
With the holidays and all, this week’s update is brief – best wishes for a happy and safe new year.
SVSEF Freestyle Team takes on training and competition in Colorado
The SVSEF Freestyle Team spent two weeks leading up to the holidays in Colorado for training and competition. The first week was comprised of camps in Vail and Aspen, where athletes were able to apply tricks they have been working on all summer in the Air Barn. Brody Buchwalter made a big breakthrough, as this was his first time back on snow after taking last season off due to injury.
The second half of the trip took place in Winter Park for U.S. Selections, where the top 50 athletes in the country competed for starts in NorAm and World Cup events. The caliber of the athletes in the field was extremely high; there were four U.S. Ski Team athletes, U.S. athlete Bryon Wilson, winner of a bronze medal at the 2010 Olympic games, and several international athletes. Holden Largay and Eliza Marks led the charge for SVSEF, and both earned an alternate spot on the tour. Largay finished 18th in the mogul event on December 19, and Marks’ best finish was 34th in dual moguls on December 22.
Freestyle athletes next compete at the Intermountain Season Opener in Snowbird, January 6-8.
Complete results
Freeskiing takes advantage of park and pipe features in Park City
Six SVSEF freeski athletes made their way to Park City December 18-22 for some valuable training on park and pipe features, as they are not yet available here in Sun Valley. Skiers had access to two medium/large jumps, which enabled them to work on slopestyle runs. The athletes were also able to spend time on nearly 20 different rail features, which were changed around each night for variety. In total, the group fit in three and a half days of skiing, with the added bonus of being able to practice on the 20x12-foot trampolines at the Center of Excellence.
Alpine FIS competes at Steamboat
SVSEF alpine FIS athletes competed in three slalom races in Steamboat, December 19-21. Erin Smith led the women on December 19 in 16th, followed by Skylar Cooley in 21st, PG skier Ruby Marden in 24th and PG Ella Pepin 36th out of a total of 68 athletes. Duncan Fuller and John Blackburn recorded DNFs for the day. The next day, Skylar Cooley finished 23rd and Ruby Marden, a postgrad, finished 46th in a field of 78 competitors. Teammates Erin Smith and Ella Pepin (PG) recorded DNFs. Duncan Fuller was 31st in the men’s event, which saw a total of 67 athletes, and John Blackburn had a DNF. In the final slalom on December 21, Marden landed 35th in a field of 57 women, and teammates Cooley, Pepin and Smith did not finish. Duncan Fuller cruised to 43rd in the men’s race, which fielded 71 athletes. Right behind him in 44th was teammate John Blackburn.
Complete results
I AM SVSEF – the video
I AM SVSEF: words that are spoken with pride, ownership, awareness. That instill
an innate sense of place, belonging, purpose. That continue to hold meaning
outside the world of skis, boots, boards and poles.
I AM SVSEF from svsef on Vimeo.
The Week in Review – 12/20/16
The start of the competitive season on snow usually comes with a mix of excitement and nerves; it’s the first opportunity a winter athlete has to concretely see how their training all spring, summer and fall has been paying off. That being said, athletes progress and grow even more once they actually get on snow – this is just the beginning.
Chase Josey captures bronze in halfpipe at Toyota U.S. Grand Prix
SVSEF alumni and current Gold Team snowboarder Chase Josey started things off right this past week, securing third place in the first World Cup halfpipe of the season, the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain. This was the Hailey native’s second World Cup podium, as he finished with a silver medal at the Mammoth Grand Prix last season in January. To earn bronze at Copper, Josey cleanly executed a run that featured a Double Michalchuk, frontside double cork 1080 indy, his “double bacon flip,” (or a switch double crippler) and a switch backside 900 mute, according to U.S. Snowboarding. Josey’s score of 93.75 set him apart from the rest of the international pack of 44 athletes and put him solidly on the podium behind Patrick Burgener of Switzerland, who landed in first with a score of 96.25, and Iouri Podladtchikov (IPod), also of Switzerland, who was an Olympic champion in Sochi in the halfpipe.
Complete results
U.S. Snowboarding Press Release
Alpine FIS opens up season at FIS Tech at Snow King
The Alpine FIS Team competed at the Western Region FIS Tech races at Snow King in Jackson Hole last week, which featured four races for each competitor during the course of two days; two slaloms the first day, and two giant slalom races the second.
In the ladies’ first slalom on December 13, Erin Smith finished fifth. Skylar Cooley was seventh, Ruby Marden eighth and Ella Pepin 10th. Molly Milgard finished 15th, Grace Pepin 21st, Libby Kaiser 23rd, Kaia Jensen 28th and Katelyn Rathfon 29th. In the second event of the day, Marden was sixth, Milgard 10th, Kaiser 14th, Grace Pepin 16th, Katelyn Rathfon 17th and Jensen 22nd. Ella Pepin and Cooley did not finish their second run and Smith did not finish her first.
In the men’s first slalom race, Filippo Collini skied to 14th for SVSEF, followed by John Blackburn in 16th, Matt O’Connor in 20th, Jake Blackburn in 26th, Julian Plank in 27th, Max Noddings in 29th and Thomas Klose in 31st. Noah Leininger was 33rd, Cooper Dart 34th, Carter Jendrezak 36th, Ian Hanna 38th and Blake Deilke 41st. The second slalom event saw Filippo Collini again leading the way, this time finishing 10th. John Blackburn was 12th, Spencer Wright 14th, Hayden Terjeson 18th, Leininger 26, Walter Lafky 27th and Deilke 33rd. Plank and Ian Hanna did not finish their second run, and Klose, Jake Blackburn, Jendrezak, Dart, O’Connor, Charlie Lamb, DeWolfe and Duncan Fuller did not finish their first.
Athletes switched over to giant slalom for December 14, the second day of racing. Erin Smith skied a foolproof race and finished third. Katelyn Rathfon was 15th, Molly Milgard 18th, Grace Pepin 24th, Libby Kaiser 25th and Kaia Jensen 26th. Skylar Cooley and Ella Pepin did not finish their second run. Smith took to the podium again in the second race of the day, this time finishing second. Skylar Cooley was eighth, Katelyn Rathfon 10th, Milgard 13th, Jensen 18th, Kaiser 20th and Grace Pepin 23rd.
John Blackburn had a standout day in the men’s event, earning second place in the first giant slalom event. Filippo Collini was eighth, Hayden Terjeson 10th, Duncan Fuller 16th, Charlie Lamb 22nd, Walter Lafky 26th, Noah Leininger 28th, Max Noddings 29, Julian Plank 30th, Jake Blackburn 31st, Thomas Klose 37th, Blake Deilke 42nd and Ian Hanna 44th. Matt O’Connor and Spencer Wright did not finish the second run, and Cooper Dart, Carter Jendrezak and Kristian DeWolfe did not finish the first. In the men’s final race, another giant slalom, Collini was fifth, Dart 15th, DeWolfe 19th, Leininger 22nd, Plank 24th, Jake Blackburn 25th, Noddings 26th, O’Connor 33rd, Klose 37th, Deilke 41st and Hanna 42nd. Jendrezak, Lamb, Fuller, Terjeson and John Blackburn did not finish the second run, and Lafky and Wright did not finish the first.
Complete results
Cross country competes at first JNQ of the season at Jackson
Cross country comp and prep team athletes headed down to Jackson Hole for the first Junior National Qualifiers event of the season. In all, there were around 325 competitors on course each day. Friday’s race was an individual start classic; the weather was rainy, which put most athletes who had them on zeros – for those who didn’t, it was a tricky wax day. Temperatures dropped dramatically to negative digits for the Saturday mass start skate race.
In the men’s U20/U18 5km classic race Friday, SVSEF PG athlete Eli Jensen took the win in a time of 17:08.6. Comp team skier Henry Raff was seventh overall and the second U18 finisher. PG Andrew Siegel was 16th, PG Bjorn Schou was 27th, and comp skier Landon Nurge was 35th. Cooper Roquet finished 37th, Keene Morawitz 43rd, Carter Ros 48th and Joe Hall 51st. In the women’s U20/U18 5km, PG skier Sarah Goble led SVSEF in eighth. Eve Jensen was 13th and the eighth U18 racer to finish. Lily Brunelle was right behind in 14th, the ninth U18 finisher. Kirsys Campbell skied to 25th, Laura Anderson to 38th, Michaela Petty 48th and Ellie Gorham 69th.
U16 athletes also skied the 5km course. Johnny Hagenbuch led the charge in third on the men’s side. Cash Dart finished 14th, Aidan Burchmore 24th, Cole Reeves 29th, Landon Paschall 31st, Sebi Radl-Jones 35th, Jake Gorham 36th and Kai Nelson 37th. SVSEF has a large U16 women’s contingent this season; Sophia Mazzoni and Anja Jensen finished two-three, respectively, and teammates Jenna Nurge and Ella Wolter went five-six. Chloe Tanous skied to 10th, Sascha Leidecker 12th, Laine Allison 14th, Katherine Estep 15th, Eva Grover 22nd, Christine Estep 25th, Kate Horowitz 27th, Tia Vontver 32nd, Kate Stone 33rd and Quinn Closser 38th.
Competitors under the U14 designation skied a 3km course. Alex Shaffer finished 17th, Blake DeHart 22nd and Fisher Gardner 27th. Logan Smith was seventh for girls, Luci Ludwig 11th, Anja Grover 13th, Crosby Boe 26th, Anneka Thompson 27th, Meg Keating 29th and Lyla Maxwell 30th. Sammy Smith won the girls’ U12 2km race, and Holden Archie was fifth for the boys, Tucker Smith sixth and McCallen Campbell 10th. In the novice 3km class, Sara King-Nakaoka was sixth, Taylor Dorland seventh and Grace Bloomfield 15th.
An arguably more exciting mass start format opened up competition for skate races on Saturday. SVSEF went one-two in the U20 men’s 10km; Andrew Siegel took first in a time of 26:39.8, and teammate Eli Jensen was 2.7 seconds back in second. Carter Ros was seventh in the field of 16. The U18 men also raced a 10km; Henry Raff was 10th, Cooper Roquet 18th, Landon Nurge 20th, Joe Hall 35th and Keene Morawitz 41st. Sarah Goble made the podium in the women’s U20 7.5km, finishing third. Laura Anderson broke the top ten, finishing eighth. In the U18 7.5km, Eve Jensen led the way in 10th, followed by Lily Brunelle in 11th, Kirsys Campbell in 13th, Michaela Petty 23rd and Ellie Gorham 34th.
Johnny Hagenbuch secured a win in the U16 men’s 5km skate mass start, finishing in 12:50.7. Landon Paschall was 19th, Aidan Burchmore 24th, Sebi Radl-Jones 29th, Kai Nelson 32nd and Jake Gorham 33rd. U16 skier Anja Jensen got her second podium of the weekend, again finishing third. Sophia Mazzoni was fourth, Ella Wolter fifth and Sascha Leidecker 10th. Katherine Estep finished 12th, Laine Allison 13th, Jenna Nurge 16th, Chloe Tanous 20th, Eva Grover 21st Tia Vontver 26th, Kate Horowitz 27th, Christine Estep 31st, Kate Stone 32nd and Quinn Closser 37th.
In the men’s U14 3km race, Fisher Gardner was 19th, Blake DeHart 20th, and Alex Shaffer 21st. Logan Smith won the girls’ 3km in 9:42.3. Luci Ludwig was fifth, Anja Grover eighth, Crosby Boe 17th, Anneka Thompson 27th, Lyla Maxell 29th and Meg Keating 30th. Sammy Smith again won the girls’ U12 2km race. Tucker Smith was fourth in the boys’ U12 2km, and McCallen Campbell was 11th. Taylor Dorland, who switched over from alpine this year, won the girls’ novice race. Teammate Sara King-Nakaoka was third and Grace Bloomfield was 12th.
Complete results
Alpine FIS and USSA in midst of competitions at Eric Hays Memorial in Park City
The 35th annual Eric Hays Memorial at Park City kicked off with open slalom races on the 17th, drawing athletes from all over the Intermountain region. Maddie Ferris, our SVSEF Athlete of the Month for November for demonstrating high levels of dedication and motivation in the dryland season, finished fourth in the women’s race. Teammate Lily Fitzgerald was seventh, Molly Milgard 17th, Katelyn Rathfon 18th, Merumo Ishimaru 19th, Carlota Pomes 27th and Grace Pepin 32nd. Bennett Snyder led the charge for SVSEF in the men’s slalom with a ninth place finish. Kristian DeWolfe was 12th, Hayden Terjeson 12th, and Thomas Klose 14th. Also finishing in the top 30 was Cooper Dart in 16th, Buey Grossman in 18th, Matt O’Connor 19th, Jack Smith 20th, Carter Jendrezak 22nd, Max Noddings 23rd, Wyatt Minor 24th and Noah Leininger 26th.
Racing continued on the 18th with a second slalom. Merumo Ishimaru, a Community School student who hails from Hokkaido, Japan and is part of the Sun Valley Ski Academy, skied a strong race and finished on the podium in second place. Lily Fitzgerald narrowly missed joining her, finishing in fourth. Molly Milgard was sixth, Katelyn Rathfon 10th, Alli Rathfon 11th, Carlota Pomes 14th and Grace Pepin 20th. Bennett Snyder again had the top SVSEF finish of the day in the men’s race, coming in fifth. Right behind him was teammate Kristian DeWolfe in sixth and Jack Smith in eighth. Charlie Lamb secured a top-15 spot in 15th, Carter Jendrezak was 16th, Buey Grossman 21st, Jake Blackburn 23rd, Max Noddings 25th and Noah Leininger 28th.
Yesterday’s race was a giant slalom, and two SVSEF athletes came out swinging to take one-two on the day in the women’s event. Alli Rathfon took the win, and Lily Fitzgerald was second, .06 seconds off the winning time. Katelyn Rathfon finished fifth, Merumo Ishimaru ninth, Marit Kaiser 19th, Maddie Ferris 23rd, Carlota Pomes 25th, Sage Holter 26th, and Molly Milgard 29th. Bennett Snyder broke through in the men’s race, also securing a podium with a second place finish. A solid grouping of SVSEF athletes followed, with Charlie Lamb in seventh, Wyatt Minor in eighth, Max Noddings in ninth, Buey Grossman in 10th and Jack Smith in 12th. Noah Leininger finished 14th, Charlie Stumph 15th, Cooper Dart 18th, Hayden Terjeson 20th, Carter Jendrezak tied for 23rd and Julian Plank was 26th.
Today is the final day of racing, with a second giant slalom.
Complete results
Freestyle kicks off competition at U.S. Selections in Winter Park
Winter Park in Colorado is currently hosting Freestyle U. S. Selections, which serve the purpose of qualifying skiers for NorAm competition starts, and possibly U.S. World Cup starts. The events draw highly qualified competitors from all over the U.S., as they’re a stepping stone to national and international events. Athletes competed yesterday in moguls, and will again compete on Wednesday in moguls and Thursday in dual moguls. SVSEF's Eliza Marks put down a solid result with a 41st place finish, in a field of competitors from China, Austria, Australia, and across the U.S. Eliza was the youngest athlete in the women's event, and competed against women up to ten years her senior. Holden Largay led the charge in men's moguls for SVSEF, finishing 18th. Brody Buchwalter was 46th, Luke Rizzo 47th, Alex LaFleur 50th, Hunter Diehl 57th and Wilson Dunn 58th in a highly competitive field of 67. The competition continues Wednesday – stay tuned.
Complete results