It was a gathering of the Intermountain Division alpine ski racing clan last weekend on Park City, Utah's Pay Day run.
The Eric Hays Memorial A-J3 technical races kick-started the 2006-07 competition season, hosted by the Park City Ski Education Foundation. Some 153 men and 89 women ran gates for four days including 41 Wood River Valley racers.
Dominant racer was 22-year-old Virginia-born Scott Veenis, the University of Utah sophomore and reigning NCAA giant slalom king. Veenis won the men's GS events Thursday and Friday and added a slalom victory Saturday.
Jackson Hole's Seppi Stiegler, 18, picked up the win in Sunday's slalom finale. Women winners were U.S. Ski Team competitor Kiley Staples, 17, in GS and SL; Maggi Kraft, 17, of Park City in GS; and Kim Stephens, 23, of the University of Utah in SL.
Representing the Wood River Valley were kids from the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF), now entering its 37th winter season; the Hailey Ski Team, in its 27th winter; and the newly-formed Soldier Mountain Alpine Racing.
Sun Valley's Katie Rothgeb (silver) and Soldier's Alisa Durkheimer (bronze) earned J1 (17-18) podium spots in Sunday's SL. They cracked the J1 top 10 in each race, as did Sun Valley J1 Grayson Palmer.
Tristan (Teton) Brown and Soren Ireland of Soldier placed 11-12 overall in Sunday's SL. Sun Valley J3 (13-14) Bergen Palmer podiumed with a third place in Sunday's SL, 30th overall out of 102 two-run finishers.
Here are class placings, by race finishers, for Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, Hailey Ski Team and Soldier Mountain Alpine Racing racers at the four-day Eric Hays Memorial. In all, 17 of the 41 local kids finished each race:
J1 boys: Tristan Brown 12-GS, 5-GS, 6-SL; Soren Ireland 8-GS, 10-SL, 7-SL; John David Davidson 21-GS, 17-GS, 16-SL; Scott Isaacs 20-GS, 14-SL; Michael Greer 23-GS, 16-GS, 22-SL, 12-SL; Toby Eagan 24-GS, 21-GS, 20-SL, 15-SL; Bo Brown 25-GS, 21-SL; Derek Blash 26-GS, 22-GS, 19-SL, 17-SL.
J1 girls: Alisa Durkheimer 4-GS, 4-GS, 7-SL, 3-SL; Katie Rothgeb 5-GS, 5-GS, 4-SL, 2-SL; Grayson Palmer 6-GS, 6-GS, 9-SL, 6-SL; Amanda Alexander 8-GS, 6-SL, 4-SL; Alexis duPont 10-GS, 10-SL, 7-SL; Coco Knudson 12-GS.
J2 boys: Gregory Roos 20-GS, 23-SL; Colter Brehmer 26-GS, 24-SL, 20-GS, 30-SL; Willie Adicoff 26-GS, 36-SL, 25-SL; Scott Smith 30-GS, 21-GS, 39-SL, 18-SL; Nick Bowen 41-GS, 26-SL.
J2 girls: Ainsley Gourlay 25-GS, 13-SL, 14-SL; Karlee Stagg 23-GS, 31-GS, 24-SL, 23-SL.
J3 boys: Tanner Farrow 16-GS, 11-GS; Chase Caulkins 20-GS, 24-SL, 48-SL; Jake Freeman 23-GS, 18-GS, 7-SL, 45-SL; Bergen Palmer 19-GS, 3-SL; Tyler Davis 27-GS, 25-GS, 36-SL, 43-SL; Ryan Foster 27-GS, 21-SL, 18-SL; Harlan Collins 28-GS, 23-GS, 30-SL, 32-SL; Miles Sweek 35-GS, 29-GS, 27-SL, 28-SL; Peter Stone 38-GS, 43-GS, 46-SL, 35-SL; Hunter Weaver 40-GS, 34-SL, 30-SL; Jordan Levin 47-GS, 50-GS, 32-SL, 31-SL; Gardner Cord 49-GS, 47-SL, 49-SL; William Nero 45-SL, 42-SL.
J3 girls: Alexi Fitch 15-GS, 18-GS, 17-SL; Hannah Rudolph 21-GS, 21-GS, 16-SL, 19-SL; Marly Morgus 24-GS, 22-GS, 19-SL, 25-SL; Emma Wilander 28-GS, 26-GS, 26-SL; Sierra Fox 29-GS, 24-SL, 28-SL; Natalie Vorsteveld 29-GS, 31-GS, 31-SL, 31-SL; Meghan Duff 27-SL.
