A spring fling on
Baldy
Howard Dean
Memorial races elites
By JODY
ZARKOS
Express Staff Writer
It was
everything an alpine spring series is meant to be.
Sunny blue
skies, cool temperatures and a top-flight field were on display during the
Howard Dean Memorial Western Region Spring Series on the Warm Springs side
of Bald Mountain, April 2-7.
Carl
Rixon Jr. of Sun Valley had a good spring series, finishing 5th SG
plus 7th and 9th GS. Express photo by Willy Cook
A field of
246 racers, including 19 from Sun Valley, competed in super giant slalom,
giant slalom and slalom.
Racers from
the U.S. Ski Team, including Marco Sullivan, Dane Spencer, Adam Cole,
Brett Fischer, Jeff Harrison, Jakob Fiala, T.J. Lanning and Kevin Francis
were on hand to lend their points and expertise to the up-and-coming
racers.
U.S.
national competitors swept the top three spots in every race but the
slaloms, which were won by Canadian tech-whiz Martin Tichy.
Also
competing were collegiate racers from the University of Utah, University
of Nevada and Canadian provincial teams from British Columbia and Alberta.
Lester
Keller, Western Region Alpine Director for the U.S. Ski Team said,
"The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation really did quite a job. My
hat is off to them.
"It
was a good quality event and we had great cooperation from the ski area.
It was everything a spring series should be."
The local
racers seemed to enjoy the competition and camaraderie as well. "It
was a good week," Zach Brown said.
Keller said
he saw "quite a few good performances" from the younger
athletes. He said, "It was a high-quality competition in terms of the
venue and the racers we had here."
In last
week’s race series, 25-year-old Brett Fischer of Winter Park, Colo. won
three races, including both GSs. U.S. teammate Jeff Harrison of White
Pass, WA., was first in SG.
Top local
results were posted by Carl Rixon Jr. He was 5th in SG and cracked the GS
top 10.
Wes Powell
and Zach Brown visited the front page. Powell, 7th in slalom, said,
"It’s pretty cool to finish that close to them (the U.S.S.T.
men)."
Sun Valley’s
Tracy Chubb moved up 66 places in slalom to win the Bib-O award for the
biggest jump on that day. Jeff Sarchett climbed 65 spots in super G, from
107 to 42.
For the
season, silver belt buckles were awarded to the overall champs in each
event. Champions were decided by a Continental Cup style in which racers
are awarded points for finishing in the top 15 of a race.
Gretchen
Glaser, 18, of Mt. Bachelor, Ore. was the women’s overall champ. She
raced in the Baldy spring series and won a GS.
Sweden’s
Rune Nielson, currently attending Sierra Nevada College of Lake Tahoe, was
the men’s winner.
Sun Valley’s
Wes Powell finished 9th in the overall standings. Carlo Rixon was 5th in
the giant slalom standings and 11th overall. Jessica Hamilton placed 9th
in downhill and 10th in super G.
Product and
prizes were donated by Christopher and Company, Moss Gardens, Ski Tech,
Smith, Carrerra, Formula Sports, Elephant’s Perch, Sturtevants, Coca
Cola, Aqua Vie, Desperados, Bob Dog’s Pizza, Perry’s, Smoky Mountain
Pizza, Burger Grill, Wrap City, Mark Harbaugh, Paul Kenny’s Ski &
Sport, Sun Summit, Silver Creek Outfitters and Ketchum Grill.
Results by
race:
Super G, April 2-3
April 2
Men:
1—Brett Fisher (USA) 1:19.17. 11—Carl Rixon Jr. 1:20.91. 24—Wes
Powell 1:22.99. 34—Zach Brown 1:24.22. 35—Biche Rudigoz 1:24.25. 43—Jason
Eder 1:24.93. 47—Sean Higgins 1:25.20. 58—Robin Sarchett 1:26.27. 63—Jeff
Sarchett 1:26.54. 107—Marcus Acker 1:35.37.
Women:
1—Christina Risler (CAN) 1:01.26. 26—Laura Durkheimer 1:07.69. 43—Hailey
Duke (BSU) 1:09.29. 52—Charlotte Gourlay 1:10.90. DNF—Jessica
Hamilton.
April 3
Men:
1—Jeff Harrison (USA) 1:26.28. 5—Rixon 1:27.23. 15—Powell 1:29.12.
23—Brown 1:30.34. 31—Rudigoz 1:30.99. 42—J. Sarchett 1:32.43. 43—Higgins
1:32.89. 53—Eder 1:33.85. 56—R. Sarchett 1:34.03. 69—Acker 1:35.32.
Women:
1—Keely Kelleher (USA), 1:02.66. 34—Hamilton 1:07.25. 40—Durkheimer
1:07.37. 41—Duke 1:07.40. 61—Gourlay 1:09.86.
GS, April 4-5
April 4
Men: 1—Fisher
2:05.19. 7—Rixon 2:06.72. 17—J. Sarchett 2:08.24. 19—Powell 2:08.31.
25—R. Sarchett 2:08.81. 29—Brown 2:09.76. 39—Sean Higgins 2:11.38.
79—Acker 2:17.90. 84—Slater Storey 2:19.55. 96—Ash Higgins 2:22.81.
DNF—Rudigoz.
Women:
1—Glaser 1:40.24. 25—Duke 1:46.92. 38—Durkheimer 1:49.56. 50—Tracy
Chubb 1:51.57. 68—Gourlay 1:58.42. DNF—Hamilton.
April 5
Men:
1—Fischer 2:08.61. 9—Rixon 2:12.33. 10—J. Sarchett 2:12.49. 18—Powell
2:14.15. 20—R. Sarchett 2:14.22. 21—Rudigoz 2:14.39. 22—Brown
2:14.58. 42—Eder 2:19.55. 53—Acker 2:21.43. 62—Storey 2:22.90. 73—A.
Higgins 2:27.41. DNF—S. Higgins.
Women:
1—Jessica Dakers (CAN), 1:45.93. 19—Durkheimer 1:51.56. 20—Duke
1:51.89. 33—Hamilton 1:54.75. 61—Gourlay 2:03.86. DNF—Chubb, Sage
Pressman.
SL, April 6-7
April 6
Men: 1—Martin
Tichy (CAN) 1:53.53. 15—J. Sarchett 2:00.78. 16—R. Sarchett 2:01.53.
20—S. Higgins 2:02.95. 31—Eder 2:14.23. 45—Storey 2:21.96. DNF—A.
Higgins, Rudigoz, Powell, Rixon, Acker, Brown.
Women:
1—Petra Svet (SLO) 1:45.43. 36—Chubb 2:04.94. 48—Gourlay 2:12.06. 52—Pressman
2:14.37. DNF—Hamilton, Duke, Durkheimer.
April 7
Men:
1—Tichy 1:43.16. 7—Powell 1:47.31. 8—J. Sarchett 1:47.91. 11—Brown
1:48.94. 18—Rixon 1:49.75. 43—Eder 2:00.27. 49—Storey 2:05.04. 50—A.
Higgins 2:05.27. DNF—Acker, S. Higgins, R. Sarchett, Rudigoz.
Women:
1—Katie Lyons (USA) 1:48.44. 17—Durkheimer 1:56.66. 19—Chubb
1:57.98. 33—Gourlay 2:05.00. 41—Pressman 2:07.77. DNF—Danielle
Maniere, Abby Dubois, Duke.