The Sun Valley Ski Team has a dynamic new alpine racer in 16-year-old Michael Radford, who showed his technical skills during the Eric Hays Memorial Open Series races Dec. 13-17 on Park City Resort's Payday run.
Radford, from California's Sugar Bowl Academy and a former Western Region Topolino Shootout winner, won J2 (ages 15-16) giant slaloms and slaloms and podiumed in his class four times at the Hays.
His best overall finish of the four-race series was ninth of 101 slalom racers Monday. Meanwhile, Hailey Ski Team coach Carl Rixon Jr., 25, racked up a fourth place of 129 finishers in Friday's giant slalom.
Other outstanding results from this area were posted by Soldier Mountain Racing's Alisa Durkheimer, J1 third-place in slalom; Bergen Palmer, J2 fourth-place slalom; Bailey Ireland, three top 10s with a pair of J2 fifths in GS and SL;
Also, Tanner Farrow, four top 10s in J3 boys capped by a fourth-place SL; Sierra Fox, three top 10s in J3 girls with a fourth-place GS; Amanda Stelling, four top 10s in J3 girls with a fifth-place SL; and Nicole Roos, third-place podium plus a fourth place in J3 slalom.
Giant slalom winners Thursday and Friday were University of Utah racers Kimberly Stephens, 24, and Scott Veenis, 23, along with U.S. Ski Team racer Andrew Phillips, 18. Adding slalom wins were Veenis and Phillips. Kate Williams, 18, of the Park City Ski Team swept women's slalom.
There were 141 men and 76 women in the 217-racer field mainly from Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, Soldier Mountain Racing and Hailey Ski Team sent 11 girls and 21 boys to the Open Series event.
Class placings by local racer:
J1 boys: Bo Brown 22-GS, 24-SL, 18-SL.
J1 girls: Alisa Durkheimer 5-GS, 7-GS, 3-SL, 6-SL.
J2 boys: Michael Radford 1-GS, 3-GS, 2-SL, 1-SL; Riley Berman 9-GS, 17-SL, 12-SL; Bergen Palmer 15-GS, 15-GS, 6-SL, 4-SL; Gregory Roos 13-GS, 19-GS, 20-SL, 16-SL; Willie Adicoff 20-GS, 28-GS, 22-SL, 19-SL; Scott Smith 24-GS, 31-SL, 13-SL; Jake Freeman 28-GS, 31-GS, 33-SL, 24-SL; Colter Brehmer 26-GS, 15-SL; and Tyler Davis 34-GS, 39-GS, 37-SL, 23-SL.
J2 girls: Bailey Ireland 14-GS, 5-GS, 6-SL, 5-SL; Nina Hirner 16-GS, 11-GS, 11-SL; Hannah Rudolph 19-GS, 18-GS, 23-SL, 6-SL; and Karlee Stagg 21-GS, 20-GS, 18-SL, 10-SL.
J3 boys: Tanner Farrow 7-GS, 7-GS, 8-SL, 4-SL; Connor Farrow 18-GS, 17-GS, 13-SL, 22-SL; Miles Sweek 22-GS, 21-GS, 11-SL, 7-SL; Christopher Nalen 23-GS, 23-GS, 36-SL; Tim Kanellitsas 25-GS, 20-GS, 42-SL, 32-SL; William Nero 31-GS, 29-GS, 37-SL, 31-SL; Dylan Carroll 37-GS, 33-GS, 20-SL, 8-SL; Tanner Dirstine 34-GS, 39-SL, 34-SL; Jordan Levin 38-GS, 37-GS, 23-SL, 17-SL; Gardner Cord 44-GS, 40-GS, 41-SL, 30-SL; and Colin Waycott 50-GS, 47-GS, 45-SL, 37-SL.
J3 girls: Sierra Fox 5-GS, 4-GS, 7-SL; Amanda Stelling 8-GS, 8-GS, 10-SL, 5-SL; Teagen Palmer 13-GS, 12-GS, 8-SL, 9-SL; Nicole Roos 23-GS, 4-SL, 3-SL; Natalie Vorsteveld 24-GS, 24-GS, 25-SL; and Marly Morgus 35-GS, 26-GS, 19-SL, 13-SL.
