The Sun Valley Freestyle Team had its largest ever team competing at the 2006 Chevrolet Freestyle Junior Olympics held March 13-18 in Utah.
Six Sun Valley boys and six girls, many making their first trip to the prestigious meet, traveled to Park City and competed in moguls, dual moguls, halfpipe, slopestyle and aerials.
Among the best female skiers was Sophia Schwartz, who no longer skis with Sun Valley, but now competes with New Hampshire's Waterville Valley.
Schwartz dominated the halfpipe gaining seven to eight feet of air out of the 22 feet deep pipe, more amplitude than most of the men competing. She took the overall first place in the pipe. Sun Valley's Katie Fieguth wasn't far behind in eighth overall and fifth in her F2 age group. Ross Falcone was 10th overall in the pipe.
Some of the best pipe performances came from Sun Valley's youngest skiers, Aunika Phillips and Zana Davey. Competing in their first JOs, they took first and second respectively in their F4 age class.
On the mogul course, Kurtis and Katie Fieguth shared the spotlight. Kurtis finished 11th overall and sixth in his M1 class while younger sister Katie was 15th overall and seventh in her F2 division.
In aerials, Falcone attempted his long-awaited and much-ballyhooed 1440.
Falcone is the only athlete to even attempt this trick in USSA competition. Spinning at a dizzying rate, Falcone actually over-rotated and did not land cleanly. It was good practice for nationals, though, where Falcone should make another try later this week in Vermont.
Also in aerials, younger skiers shined as North Parker took first place in M3 and Zana Davey took first in F4.
Sun Valley scored most consistently in combined (moguls, halfpipe and aerials). The locals boasted more skiers in the top six than any other U.S. team. Kurtis Fieguth was second, Falcone third and North Parker sixth, while Katie Fieguth was fourth for women. Schwartz ended up third.
Freestyle program director John Zuck and head coach Andy Ware said they were very proud of the efforts put forth by the team. "We have some incredibly talented athletes here and it so much fun to be a part of their skiing careers right now," Ware said. Results:
Overall Aerials—Boys: 10—North Parker (1st M3). 17—Austin Bourret (4th M3). 20—Fieguth. 24—Austin Moses. 26—Falcone. 41—McClain Porter. Girls: 14—Fieguth. 17—Zana Davey (1st F4).
Overall Halfpipe—Boys: 10—Falcone. 16—Fieguth. 49—Parker. 53—Bourret. Girls: 1—Schwartz. 8—Fieguth. 13—Collins. 18—A. Phillips (1st F4). 20—Davey (2nd F4). 21—K. Phillips.
Overall Moguls—Girls: 15—Fieguth. Boys: 11—Fieguth. 30—Falcone. 38—Moses (5th M3). 61—Parker.
Combined: 2—Kurtis Fieguth. 3—Falcone. 4—Katie Fieguth. 6—Parker.
