Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Sports summary


Caulkins runs with the country's best

Reigning State 4A prep cross country champion Chase Caulkins ran The Nike National Cross Country 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) race on Saturday Dec. 5 at Portland Meadows in Portland, Oregon.

Weather conditions were freezing fog at 31 degrees. About a quarter of the course was muddy. Still, Wood River High senior Caulkins finished first out of his Nike Team Northwest in 35th place of 199 runners with a time of 15:48.10.

Caulkins averaged 5:05 per mile. The winner of the sixth annual nationwide event, hailing from the South, was Craig Lutz in 15:09.20.

It was a stellar performance with a new personal best time even in the cold conditions, according to Monte Brothwell, Caulkins' coach at Wood River.

Nike Cross Nationals (NXN), the country's only club team and individual national championship in high school cross country, showcased the two best cross country clubs and top five individuals (not on qualifying clubs) from nine regions—Heartland, Midwest, Northwest, Southwest, South, Northeast, Southeast, California and New York—as well as four at-large teams for a total of 22 girls teams, 22 boys teams, 90 boys and girls individuals.

Galena Lodge stages Winterstart on Sunday

Cross-country skiers will be keeping their fingers crossed for more snow at the end of this week because the 37th annual Winterstart cross-country races are scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 13 at Galena Lodge 23 miles north of Ketchum.

A citizens' race open to anyone for $5, Winterstart could be staged entirely at Galena Lodge if more snow arrives—or it could be a point-to-point race like last year's 9-kilometer race from Galena Lodge to Prairie Creek. Sixty-one skiers joined the 9k and 2k events in 2008.

Race time is 11 a.m. Sunday. Call Galena Lodge at 726-4010 for current snow conditions.

Cheerleaders, dancers perform Saturday in Hailey

Regional cheerleading and dance athletes will treat the public with a competition Saturday, Dec. 12 starting at 11 a.m. at The Community Campus in Hailey. They'll do cheer, dance, tumbling and extreme stunting. Spirit N' Motion Athletic School, home of the Soldier Mountain All-Star Cheerleaders, will host the event. Admission is $8 adults, $4 kids.

SVFSC skaters to Ohio for ice dancing

Abby Chase, 10, and Alex Sullivan, 14, will compete in Juvenile Ice Dance at the U.S. Figure Skating Junior National Championships Dec. 14-19 in Strongsville, Ohio.

Chase and Sullivan are the first Sun Valley Figure Skating Club (SVFSC) skaters to compete at Junior Nationals since the ice dancing teams of Brianna and Brennan Rego (intermediate level), and Katrin Sharp and Delamon Rego (juvenile level), competed there nearly 10 years ago. Chase and Sullivan are coached by five time national champion and two time Olympic ice dancer, Judy Blumberg, of Sun Valley.

Abby Chase is a fifth-grader at Hemingway Elementary School in Ketchum. Alex Sullivan attends the K12 "Cyberschool" program as a ninth grader. Sullivan moved to Sun Valley in July to train with Chase and Blumberg.

Zac Crist slide show in Stanley

"Ski Adventures in the Sawtooths and South America," is the title of a skiing slide show by Ketchum's Zac Crist tonight, Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Sawtooth Ski Club meeting in Stanley 60 miles north of Ketchum. Location is Sawtooth Hotel at 755 Ace of Diamonds. Food and drink will be available. Call 721-2459 for details.

Rotarun Ski Area season passes still on sale

The snow will come, eventually, and when it does you'll want to have a 2009-10 Rotarun Ski Area season ski pass. Family season passes are available for $295 for a family of four. Additional family members may be added for $50 each. Individual passes are $145 for an adult, $90 for a junior (ages 11-17), $70 for a child (ages 5-10) and $55 for a tot (4-and-under). Call Sarah Busdon at 788-1173.

Wood River Volleyball Club

Tuesday, Dec. 15 is the deadline to submit packets and pay deposits for the Wood River Volleyball Club's 2010 spring season starting in February for high school girls, according to coach Kristyn Rutland (721-2437).

B+ Hockey League results

Sharks (3-1) suffered their first loss two weeks ago but they bounced back Sunday with a 5-4 win over Wildcats (1-3) at Sun Valley Skating Center. Late goals by the Wildcats wiped out a 5-2 deficit before the clock ran out along with their hopes. The Sharks got goals from five different scorers—Steve McCoy, Jim Slanetz, Justin Hellman, Rob Prew and Alex Baron. Wildcats scorers were Gunnar Whitehead (2), Bill Sprong and Peter Shafer.

Isles (2-1-1) played Senators (1-2-1) to a 2-2 tie. Todd Avison and Scott Seaward scored for the Isles. The Senators got goals from Jeff "Crash" Ballou and Baird Gourlay.

Sunday's nightcap saw Vipers (3-1) get back on the winning track 6-3 over Hutch's Bad Dogs (1-3). Josh Green (3) had a hat trick with singles from John Ellison Jr., Jini Griffith and Gary Norbom. Dogs scorers were Buck Drew, Georgia Hutchinson and Clark Shaffer.

On Sunday, Dec. 13, the Sharks and Vipers meet at 5:15 p.m. to settle first place in the league as the first round of 14 games concludes.

Nordic Super Tour staged at Bohart Ranch

This past weekend the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation's Nordic Olympic Development Team took on the best in the U.S. in the second round of Super Tour races held at Bozeman, Montana.

Super Tour races along with U.S. Nationals in January at Anchorage are used to select the Olympic Cross-Country Team for the games at Vancouver, B.C. in February 2010.

Sun Valley started off with a bang when Simi Hamilton won the qualification round in the sprints on Saturday by 1.84 seconds over Garrot Kuzzy (CXC). Hamilton went on to finish fourth in the final. Hometown boy Mikey Sinnott put on a great move with 100 meters to go to finish second in the finals behind Kuzzy.

In the women's race Holly Brooks of Alaska skied away from the field as she continues to have a standout season. Other SVSEF skiers to crack the top 10 in the sprints were Reid Pletcher (8th) and Nicole DeYong (10th), while Erik Fagerstrom was the top junior racer on the day.

Sunday's event featured a grueling 15/10km classic race on a new course at Bohart Ranch. It was a cold wintery day with blowing snow and race time temperatures never getting above 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Sun Valley women stepped up their game behind Kate Whitcomb (5th) and Nicole DeYong (6th). Race winner was again Brooks of Alaska Pacific in 32:28.

In the men's race James Southam won the day in 41:40. The top SVSEF skier was again Mikey Sinnott (14th). SVSEF junior racers Erik Fagerstrom and Max Durtschi took first and second in the junior field and finishes of 31st and 32nd overall respectively.

On Monday, Dec. 7 the team headed north to Silver Star, British Columbia to train and compete next weekend in the NorAm Series.




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