Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Sports Summary


Pritchett on Avon champs

Sun Valley Junior Hockey product Jordan Pritchett celebrated a championship with his Avon Old Farms School hockey team March 2.

Avon Old Farms (27-1, outscoring opponents 163-58) won its final 19 games including the New England Prep Division 1 tournament championship game by a 3-2 score in overtime over St. Paul's School of Concord, N.H. Pritchett was a senior forward for Avon Old Farms, indeed, the only player on the roster hailing from west of Pittsburgh, Pa.

A boys' boarding school located in Avon, Ct., Avon Old Farms was dominant during the 2007-08 season but ended with three close games including its 5-4 overtime quarterfinal victory over Berkshire School Feb. 27 and 6-4 semi-fin win over Belmont Hill School March 1. The school produced such athletes as Brian Leetch of the New York Rangers and local Sun Valley Youth Hockey player Ryan McDonald.

Perch's snowshoe challenge is Saturday

The Elephant's Perch of Ketchum has scheduled its 2008 Baldy Mountain Snowshoe Challenge for Saturday, March 22, the day before Easter.

Participants wearing snowshoes or skis and skins are welcome to climb Baldy's 3,000 vertical feet and take a chairlift ride back down, conditions permitting.

The Snowshoe Challenge will go up Lower River Run to Hershey Highway, and across to Lower College, from there up Lower College to Upper College. The finish will be at Lookout Restaurant.

Refreshments will be available at the top. There will be prize drawings and awards for first-, second- and third-place finishers and overall fastest on snowshoes.

Start time is Saturday at 8 a.m. at the River Run base of Baldy. Register ($10 through Friday) at The Elephant's Perch (726-3497) in Ketchum. Day-of-race registration from 7-7:45 a.m. is $15 per person.

Youth hockey evaluation camp

Sun Valley Skating Center is the site of the 2008 Idaho Amateur Hockey Association Player Development and Evaluation Camp Friday through Sunday, March 21-23. Eligible are boys born in the calendar years 1991-95 and girls born in the calendar years 1990-95.

Focus of the weekend will be on improving skills and learning new skills, but there will also be opportunities to qualify for end-of-season Idaho State Select teams from each age group. All players will register at the ice rink Friday from 5-6 p.m. The mandatory camp meeting is at 6 p.m. Friday followed by an on-ice session.

Contact Idaho Coaching Education Coordinator Tom Lampl at 726-3990 or register at www.rockymountainregister.com/enroll/iaha/login.asp?programid=2.

Nordic kids join field at New England J2 finals

Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation cross-country ski coaches Kelley Sinnott and Ashley Wells took seven younger SVSEF racers plus one racer from Pocatello,

Scott Schoen, to the 2008 TD Banknorth New England J2 (ages 14-15) Championships March 7-9 at Jackson, N.H.

Most of the Idaho travelers were actually J3s (ages 12-13) racing up at the J2 level, which meant that they were racing against older skiers and at longer distances than they are accustomed to. Still, Sinnott said the trip and competition was a lot of fun with many lessons learned.

A highlight was the 4x2-kilometer mixed relays Sunday, March 9 in extremely icy conditions. Idaho's Team 1 squad of Schoen, Maranda Stopol, Chase Caulkins and Maggie Williams had a great day, its final skier Williams pulling the team into ninth place of 44 teams.

Maine won the seven-state competition with 14,432 points and Vermont had 14,113. Among results:

Girls' 5-kilometer freestyle March 7: Stopol 15th, Williams 22nd, Sloan Storey 58th and Mateja Heinrich 69th. Boys' 5k free: Caulkins 3rd, Schoen 13th, Jackson Long 77th and Zach Lindahl 91st.

Girls' 5-kilometer classic March 8: Stopol 63rd, Williams 70th, Storey 77th and Heinrich 79th. Boys' 5k classic: Caulkins 42nd, Schoen 47th, Long 93rd and Lindahl 94th.

Girls' 1k classic sprint March 8: Stopol 22nd, Williams 26th, Heinrich Storey 73rd and Storey 75th. Boys' 1k classic sprint: Schoen 21st, Caulkins 29th, Lindahl 93rd and Long 96th.

Field scheduling meetings are set

The Blaine County Recreation District will hold its annual field scheduling meeting today, Wednesday, March 19 from 6-7 p.m. at The Community Campus Room 211 in Hailey. Those who should attend are representatives of teams planning to use Blaine County School District fields in Hailey (high school fields, Nelson field, middle school) in the summer and fall of 2008.

Howard Dean scholarships

The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation has announced the entry deadline of Monday, April 7 to apply for the 2008 Howard Dean Scholarship, a full-year tuition scholarship for a deserving SVSEF J1/J2 IMD, J3 or Travel Team alpine athlete. This year's winner will be revealed at the annual Alpine Banquet April 15. In addition, the Howard Dean Award to a boy and girl on the SVSEF Devo team will be presented during the March 30 Hobson Memorial ceremonies.

Dean, who died in 1994, was born in California and came to Sun Valley with his parents at the age of 17. Skiing was a big part of his life. He bought a gas station south of Ketchum in 1977. It is now known as Dean Tire. He moved to Ketchum with his wife, Peggy, and two children, Jana and Ryan, in Feb. 1978. Jana and Ryan immediately became involved with the SVSEF ski program. Ryan is now an alpine ski coach for the SVSEF.

Meeting for junior bike racing team

Coaches Cody Peterson and Billy Olson of Sun Valley Road & Dirt have scheduled an informational meeting for all boys and girls ages 18-and-under who would like to participate this spring and summer on Sun Valley Road & Dirt's Junior Race Team.

It is Tuesday, March 25 at 6 p.m. at Wise Guy Pizza in Hailey. Olson and Peterson will provide details about the program and the season that will start in late April and feature three-times-a-week practices and some local competitions.

"We want to spread the love of the sport to the next generation and introduce kids to bicycling in general," said Ketchum resident Peterson, 28, a ninth-year professional bike racer who placed 10th last year in the U.S. national mountain bike series. This is Peterson's first year with the Road & Dirt junior team. Call him at 720-0991 for more information.




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