Promising new Sun Valley Ski Team alpine racer Michael Radford, 16, bounced back from a "did not finish" to win Saturday's Western Region FIS Series J2 Classification (ages 15-16) slalom on Mammoth Mountain's Fascination ski run in California.
Radford, from California's Sugar Bowl Academy and a former Western Region Topolino Shootout winner, clocked the third best first run and rallied to capture Saturday's slalom by .29 seconds over Far West's Nick Cohee.
Cohee had won Friday's slalom in which Radford "DNFd" but one day later Sun Valley's Radford was the top gun among 70 two-run finishers. There were 109 starters from throughout the West Saturday.
Beating Cohee was quite a feather in Radford's cap because the Gardnerville, Ca. resident and Kirkwood Ski Education Foundation product is the region's #1-ranked junior in slalom, giant slalom and super giant slalom. Cohee has a legitimate shot of earning a U.S. Ski Team spot this spring. He is ranked #29 in the world.
Other Sun Valley men placing Saturday were Gregory Roos 27th, Colter Brehmer 44th, Riley Berman 48th and Scott Smith 50th. Bergen Palmer, who was the top local man with a 23rd Friday, DNFd Saturday.
Bailey Ireland once again had the top local female finish with a 14th place of 55 two-run finishers in Saturday's women's SL won by Far West racer Geordie Lonza. Other placings: 28—Nina Hirner. 51—Karlee Staff. DNFs—Hannah Rudolph and Delaney Willey.
