Suns, Futures lace up for holiday skate Saturday
Each Christmas, the Sun Valley Suns senior men's hockey team has a holiday tradition where the Suns take the ice against a squad of young Sun Valley Youth Hockey alumni called the "Futures."
That holiday exhibition game raising money for the SVYH Brett Sammis Scholarship Fund will be played Saturday, Dec. 26 at 7 p.m. at Sun Valley Skating Center.
Sun Valley (1-1) has played only two games so far this season, so the Suns will be ready for some action. Meanwhile, former Suns player and coach Chris Benson, currently the Sun Valley Midget hockey team head coach, will coach the "Futures" for Saturday's contest.
Justin Taylor is captain for the "Futures" and goalie is Billy Cook, possibly backstopped on the bench by Bobby Farrelly. Other players are:
Jordan Pritchett, Matt Alloway, Matt Ward, Danny Ward, Spencer Brendel, Travis Amick, Blake King, Sinjin Thomas, Jason Heiner, David Dredge, Pat McMahon, Kyle Cole along with these current Midget players—Neils McMahon, Jackson Bates, Morgan Pike, Crockett Stearns, Zak Sjoberg and Latner Straley.
Reynoso baseball camp for kids Monday
Atlanta Braves minor league pitcher Ryne Reynoso of Bellevue will conduct a free Winter Break Baseball Camp for local kids on Monday, Dec. 28 at the Blaine County Recreation District's Community Campus gym in Hailey.
Reynoso will be joined in conducting the camp by two other products of the Wood River High School baseball program. They are Wood River head baseball coach Matt Nelson and Redlands East Valley (Ca.) head baseball coach James Cordes, both of Hailey.
Focus of the camp is on offense, defense and pitching.
Young players ages 10-14 are welcome to attend the Dec. 28 camp from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bring gym shoes, glove and hat.
Outdoor pond hockey returns Jan. 16-17
Teams are signing up for the third annual Sun Valley outdoor pond hockey tournament to be held over the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 16-17 on Ketchum ice.
Organizer and tournament founders Piers Lamb, who hosted 28 teams in the 2007 and maxed out at 30 teams last year, said,
"We're expecting this tournament to be bigger and better. I've heard from teams from Missoula, Bozeman, Reno, Los Angeles, Boise, McCall and Moscow. It's going be great."
Lamb said the format is four-on-four (maximum 6 skaters on a team), no goalies and double elimination. It is a traditional pond hockey format modeled after the National Pond Hockey Championship held at St. Paul, Minn. each year.
He said there are two divisions: "A" (basically stronger B+, A, and Suns level skaters) and "B" (basically weaker A, B+ and below skaters).
The tournament is staged on the ice at Ketchum's Atkinson Park. The outdoor "pond" is divided into three sheets of ice so there are six teams playing two 15-minute halves.
The "B" division tournament is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The "A" division is Sunday from 10-4. Both divisions compete for the coveted "Golden Shovel." Sun Valley Brewing and Falls Brand Bratwurst are sponsors for the spectator-friendly tournament. There will be cheap beers, cheap food, and bonfires.
For more details, contact Lamb at 721-7765. Registration forms can be dropped off with Dave Keir at the Blaine County Recreation District offices in Hailey, or with John Kearney Jr. at Atkinson Park.
Petersen honored by golf group
Jeff Petersen, PGA Director of Golf at Sun Valley Resort Golf Course, has been recognized by the Rocky Mountain Section PGA as "2009 Merchandiser of the Year" for resort facilities. Petersen has spent the past five seasons in his current position and has been a member of the PGA of America since 2005. This marks the first Rocky Mountain Section PGA award for Petersen.
Petersen will receive his award at the Rocky Mountain Section annual meeting next May. Rocky Mountain PGA Section is one of 41 sections comprising Professional Golfers Association of America.
Two locals among top placers in Winter Dew Tour
Wood River Valley competitors Kaitlyn Farrington and Banks Gilberti captured top-10 finishes during the Breckenridge (Colo.) stop of the Winter Dew Tour Dec. 19. Farrington was sixth in the Women's Snowboard Superpipe final, and Gilberti ended up eighth in the Freeski Superpipe final.
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Soule wins World Cup pursuit biathlon race
U.S. Adaptive Cross Country Team member Andrew Soule, 29, of Pearland, Texas won a World Cup pursuit biathlon race last weekend at Lygna, Norway. Military veteran Soule, who lost both of his legs in an explosion of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Afghanistan, learned to ski with Mark Mast's cross country ski recruitment program for disabled athletes in Sun Valley. Soule is the first soldier to win a World Cup race, Mast said. Soule moved to Sun Valley in 2006 to train at Sun Valley Nordic Center. He plans to compete in January's U.S. Adaptive Cross Country Championships.
Open basketball Sunday, league cagers asked to pay
Open basketball sessions will continue over the holiday at The Community Campus gym in Hailey. They are Sunday, Dec. 27 and Sunday, Jan. 3 from 6-9 p.m. Drop-in fee is $3.
Also, Men's Basketball League commissioner Lewis Garza has reminded 2010 league players that fees need to be paid as soon as possible to finish the organizing process. Pay fees during Sunday Open Basketball sessions. The 10-team league runs from Jan. 3 through March in Hailey. Call Garza at 788-2015 (days) or 788-3613 (nights). Players needing a team can contact Garza or sign up at Open Basketball.
Peggy Thomas horse captures national award
The U.S. Dressage Federation (USDF) has announced that the seven-year-old, Hanoverian mare, Argentina, owned by Peggy Thomas of Hailey and ridden by Adrienne Lyle of Ketchum, is the 2009 Adequan/USDF Dressage "Horse of the Year" at Second Level.
Argentina's median score of 73.158 percent made her the top horse in the United States competing at this level. Over 2,700 horses competed at Second Level during the 2009 competition season, out of which, 301 qualified for the award by receiving a median score of 60 percent or higher from a minimum of eight scores from four different judges, at four different competitions. At least two of the scores must be from the highest test of the level.
B+ Hockey League results
First-place Vipers (4-1-1) fell behind the last-place Wildcats (1-4-1) early in their B+ Hockey League meeting Sunday night at Sun Valley Skating Center, but the Vipers rallied for a 3-3 tie. Scoring for the Wildcats were Billy Sprong, Pete Shaffer and Gunner Whitehead. Vipers goal scorers were Jim Laski (2) and Jini Griffith, from John Ellison Jr. Both goalies turned back numerous shots in the closing minutes.
Sharks (3-2-1) also ended up in a tie, 2-2, with Senators (1-2-3). Steve McCoy scored twice for Sharks, while Jeff Ballou and Bryan Speth put Senators on the scoreboard.
Hutch's Bad Dogs (2-3-1) got back in the win column 5-1 over Isles (3-2-1). Bad Dogs scorers were Clark Shaffer (2), John Baker, Georgia Hutchinson and Mako Johnson. For the Isles, it was Dale Johnson scoring.
Sun Valley Half Marathon registration now open
Registration is now open for the sixth annual Sun Valley Half Marathon, scheduled for June 5, 2010. Early registration is $40 and will close on May 31. Late registration is $60 and runs June 1-4. Race day registration will be available for a cost of $65. Online registration is available at www.active.com Mail-in registration is also available. For registration information, race details and updates about the 13.1-miler go to sunvalleyhalfmarathon.com.
The Wood River Community YMCA in Ketchum will be offering its 10-week training program for the 2010 run. The program will begin in March, with more details to follow.
Midgets fight back into Idaho Falls final game
The Sun Valley Youth Hockey Midget "B" high school hockey team battled back from a 2-2 tie and 4-1 loss to win two straight games and make the title game of a five-team tourney Dec. 19-20 in Idaho Falls.
Sun Valley, coached by Chris Benson and Tim Jeneson, went 2-2-1 for their five-game stint over a period of just 28 hours. Leading the way was Doug King, who scored five goals, along with goalies Cassidy Carson and Teagan Foster.
The Missoula (Mt.) Bruins defeated Sun Valley 1-0 in Sunday's championship game.
Highlights for Sun Valley were a 4-1 victory over a physical group of Utah Grizzlies Saturday evening, and a 5-2 triumph over Boise Hawks Sunday. King (2 goals), Anthony Martin and Charlie Evans scored against Utah. Tom Crosby, King (2), Martin and Alexander MacMillan lit the red light against Boise.
Playing strong defense were Zak Sjoberg and Karel Kaiser. The Suns energy line of Rickey Jeneson, Peter MacMillan and Parker Morris allowed the coaches to rest the more senior players during the tourney.
Weekend scoring: King 5 goals/1 assist; Martin 2/3; Tommy Heinrich 0/4; Evans 2/1; Cooper Hanley 1/2; Crosby 1/1; Alexander MacMillan 1/1; and Ian Murphy 0/2.
McCall title to SV Squirts
SVYH Squirts (ages 9-10) won the championship of last weekend's McCall Icebreaker tournament with a 5-3 victory over McCall in Sunday's final game. A four-goal first period enabled Sun Valley to build the lead. Weekend scoring leader Jack Stevens (4 goals, 6 points) had a three-goal hat trick in the title game.
Most Valuable Player of the final was Sam Hebert for his tough defense. Sun Valley also lost to McCall 3-0, tied Boise Hawks 3-3 and won 7-2 and 2-0 over Moscow and Lewiston. Goalie Henry Raff tended the net for the final three games, all wins, and was MVP for the 2-0 shutout victory. Other game MVPs were Stevens, who played goalie the first two games, and Will Hebert.
Weekend scoring: Jack Stevens 4/2; Luke Marcouiller 3/1; Colby Whitehead 2/1; Jett Erickson 2/0; Will Hebert 2/1; Tiernan Naghsh 1/1; Ike Buxton 1/1; Matt Galgano 1/0; Kyle Furlong 1/0; Jamie Rollerson 0/1; and George Prekeges 0/1. Other skaters were Charlie Stumph, James Everitt and Sam Ballard.
Bantam hockey in McCall
Playing four games in McCall against a combined McCall/Boise sextet, the Salmon Valley Bantam (ages 14-15) youth hockey team featuring seven Sun Valley skaters went 2-2. Scoring goals were six of the seven SVYH skaters.
They were Riley Sibbach (2 goals), Mason Noyes (3), Cam Jenner (2), Calder Zarkos (1), Cam Benson (2) and Gage Jorgenson (1). Their teammate Sam Ruddell didn't find the back of the twine despite playing hard.
Punt, pass and kick winners
Idaho state winners K.T. Martinez, 15, Burrell Jones, 9, and Gunner Gibson, 11, of the Wood River Valley had a great time in Seattle, Wash. over the weekend of Dec. 5-6. There they participated in the National Football League's Punt, Pass and Kick (PPK) regional competition. They qualified based on two PPK competitions held this fall, with the winners earning berths for the five-state regional meet held at the Virginia Mason Training Facility—practice field for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks team. In their age classes, Jones finished first, Martinez second and Gibson fourth. They were honored on the field at Seattle's Qwest Arena during the Dec. 6 Seahawks game against the San Francisco 49ers. The top four scores in each age group advance to compete in a national competition during the NFL playoffs. Established in 1961, PPK is a national skills competition for boys and girls 8-15. Age divisions are 8-9, 10-11, 12-13 and 14-15.