Freestylers to Waterville Valley
Ten have qualified, and eight Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation freestyle athletes are planning to make the trip to Waterville Valley, N.H. for the 2010 Junior Olympics freestyle competition March 12-14.
Athletes earned their spots at JOs by finishing among the top 60 skiers in the country under age 18 in their respective events. Sun Valley's Tai Barrymore will return to defend his Junior National halfpipe title. And Hannah Haupt goes into JOs ranked #1 in the country for women's halfpipe.
"Our athletes have really made the most of a tough season," said SVSEF freestyle director Andy Ware. "The competition at the junior level has really improved nationwide. To qualify for JOs is a huge accomplishment. It is great to see these young athletes achieve their goals."
SVSEF Freestyle Junior Olympians are: Zana Davey (HP/moguls/dual moguls); Hannah Haupt (HP/moguls/ duals; Renee Shapiro (HP); Joey Richardson (moguls); Trevor Norris (moguls/duals); RJ Bracken (duals); Nathan Moses (HP/moguls/duals); Tai Barrymore (HP/slopestyle); Colter Brehmer (HP/SS); and Ben Parker (HP).
Last weekend's Intermountain Division Freestyle Championships at Park City, Utah wrapped up the qualifying process—with new powder that made jumping difficult for SS and HP, but led to excellent mogul conditions.
Halfpipe results: Colter Brehmer and Tai Barrymore 3rd and 4th overall; Hannah Haupt, Zana Davey and Renee Shapiro 5th, 6th, and 7th respectively in women's class.
Moguls: Zana Davey took advantage of the conditions to post her highest score ever in single mogul competition (21.23) on her way to becoming the women's overall divisional champion. Hannah Haupt also had a terrrific run which earned her 2nd overall.
In the men's moguls SVSEF skiers placed four in the top 10: Former SV skier Austin Bourret 3rd overall; Trevor Norris 6th overall and 1st M3; Joey Richardson 9th/3rd M2; Kurtis Fieguth 4th overall. In Sunday's events Zana Davey again took home 1st overall and 2nd dual moguls. Joey Richardson was 6th overall/2nd M2; Trevor Norris 8th overall and 1st M3 and then finished 5th in duals.
Engen, Harpham, Ritz make the Birkie podium
Wood River Valley cross-country skiers Jon Engen, E.J. Harpham and Muffy Ritz made the podium in their age classes during the 37th running of the American Birkebeiner skate and classic races Saturday at Cable and Telemark, Wisc.
Engen, 52, won the Men's 50-54 class, the fastest of 516 skiers in that group, with a time of 2.12:41 that placed him 74th of 3,646 skate finishers at the 50-kilometer distance. Harpham, 53, was the second of 93 Women's 50-54 skiers at 2.37:51.
In the Birkie 50k classic race there were fewer finishers, 1,433, but Ketchum's Ritz, 52, won the Women's 50-54 class in 3.14:24. She was fifth of the 252 women.
The other nine Wood River skiers finishing were Kelly Allison, Anne Marie Gardner, Robin Potts, Frances St. Onge, Peter Maier, Mia James, Nancie Krankkala, Todd Krankkala and Mike Wolter.
Birkie skate winners were Fabio Santus, 33, of Italy in 1.56:58 and former Boulder Mountain Ski Tour queen Rebecca Dussault, 29, of Gunnison, Colo. in 2.18:18, in 94th place.
The Birkie is the largest and most prestigious cross country ski marathon in North America. Here are the local results by race:
50k freestyle: 74—Jon Engen, 52, 2.12:41 (1st of 516 skiers 50-54). 491—E.J. Harpham, 53, 2.37:51 (2nd of 93 skiers 50-54, 53rd of 690 women). 732—Kelly Allison, 49, 2.46:14 (12th of 110 skiers 45-49, 77th woman). 855—Anne Marie Gardner, 46, 2.50:19 (15th 45-49, 86th woman). 998—Robin Potts, 48, 2.54:57 (18th 45-49, 107th woman).
1093—Frances St. Onge, 37, 2.58:14 (14th of 69 skiers 35-39, 123rd woman). 1772—Peter Maier, 69, 3.19:12 (10th of 67 skiers 65-69, 1,555th man out of 2,956). 1905—Mia James, 35, 3.23:40 (28th 35-39, 241st woman). 3298—Nancie Dickman-Krankkala, 49, 4.46:46 (97th 45-49, 586th woman). 3298—Todd Krankkala, 51, 4.46:46 (470th 50-54, 2,713th man).
50k classic: 111—Mike Wolter, 44, 3.11:01 (17th of 131 skiers 40-44, 107th man). 130—Muffy Ritz, 52, 3.14:24 (1st of 41 skiers 50-54, 5th of 252 women).
Nationals draw near, picture clears for riders
Sun Valley Snowboard Team prospects for the upcoming USASA National Championships became clearer last weekend as the Intermountain Snowboard Series wrapped up with its "King of the Wasatch" event at Park City, Utah.
One SVST rider stepping up big time was Ryan Roemer in the Youth Men 14-15 age class. He's been on a tear recently, program director Andy Gilbert said, and Roemer continued making progress in Utah.
In Saturday's slopestyle, Roemer pulled down second place in the largest group of the day. He landed big spinning combos and smooth box jibs to take the silver. Sunday, Roemer scored his second halfpipe victory in as many weeks with big 540 combos and a McTwist to end up the winning run.
Other top SVST performers included Open class riders Chase Josey (7th SS, 6th HP with inverted 720s and big straight airs) and Mal Prior (10th SS, 3rd HP and $100 for a somewhat improvised 900 into more spinning combos).
The slopestyle event, split into two days with 160 entrants, featured a down bar into a two-jump line, into a cannon box and into another two-jump line. On Sunday, 80 riders tackled the 22-foot superpipe. Results:
Junior Men 16-17: Sam Strong 7th SS, 2nd HP with a nice 3-3 combo; Dash Stethem upper his amplitude for 3rd HP.
Junior Women 16-17: Bria Gillespie landed smooth runs and mixed up her grabs for 1st.
Youth Men 14-15: Rex Kelly 11th SS and 4th HP.
Youth Women 14-15: Hailey Rheinschild signature amplitude landed her in 2nd place.
Menehune Boys 10-11: Dehner Figge clear airs 4th place SS and 5th HP; and Clyde Montgomery a nice backside 360 for 2nd SS and 4th HP, both great results for their first contests in the 22-foot pipe.
