- Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation alpine racers competed Feb. 18-21 in Wild West Classic technical races at Snow King Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Former SVSEF racer Miles Fink-Debray had the best results of the locals in the 126-racer men's field, placing second and seventh overall in giant slalom, fourth in slalom.
Other racers and their placings were: J1 (ages 17-18): Harlan Collins 13-GS, 6-GS, 14-SL; Tanner Dirstine 6-GS, 10-GS, 19-SL; Miles Sweek 10-SL; Connor Farrow 27-GS; and Teagen Palmer 10-GS, 7-GS. J2 (15-16): Kipling Weisel 5-GS; KJ Savaria 15-GS; Garrett Lodge 80th overall GS, 27-GS, 20-SL; and Jordan Fitzgerald 15-GS, 17-GS, 24-SL.
- In a pair of NorAm freestyle competitions at Val St. Come, Canada Feb. 18-19, SVSEF Gold Team member Shane Cordeau skied to second place in dual moguls and seventh overall in singles. Cordeau travels to Killington, Vt. this weekend for another set of races before the National Championships in Maine.
- Sun Valley Resort hosted the Sun Valley Showdown Last Chance qualifier mogul event this past weekend on Baldy.
Due to the lack of snow at many ski areas this season the Intermountain freestyle division had to cancel events at Snowbird and Park City earlier this year.
"Our athletes needed another shot at competing to try and improve their national standings and qualify for U.S. Junior Nationals and U.S. National Championships," said SVSEF Freestyle Program Director Andy Ware.
"Sun Valley Co. put so much work into building our mogul course we decided we would host another mogul event to give athletes one more opportunity to compete and improve their chances for nationals."
The Sun Valley Showdown was single moguls and dual moguls Saturday and Sunday.
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SVSEF podium winners included Renee Shapiro, Claire Siderman, Eliza Marks, RJ Bracken, Alex LaFleur, Wilson Dunn, Jamie Rollerson, Luke Rizzo, Alysha Herich, Morgan Shaver, Trevor Norris, Giselle Harmon, Brody Buchwalter and Wyatt Minor.
In Saturday's single moguls competition, SVSEF athlete Renee Shapiro finished 2nd overall and 2nd F3, Claire Siderman was 3rd overall and 3rd F3. Eliza Marks took home her first win in F5 class.
RJ Bracken led all SVSEF men finishing 3rd overall and 2nd M1. It was a SV sweep in the M4 class. Alex LaFleur was 9th overall 1st M4, Wilson Dunn 11th overall 2nd M4 and Jamie Rollerson 16th overall 3rd M4. Luke Rizzo won the M5 class for the second weekend in a row tying for 16th overall and 1st M5.
In Saturday's duals event the SVSEF women took three of four top spots. Alysha Herich finished 2nd, Morgan Shaver 3rd and Evathea Drougas 4th. Sun Valley's Trevor Norris won the men's duals and RJ Bracken finished 3rd.
On Sunday it was Claire Siderman leading all SVSEF women in the singles moguls event finishing 2nd overall and 2nd F3. Alysha Herich was 3rd overall and 1st F2 followed by Morgan Shaver 4th overall 2nd F2. Giselle Harmon won the F5 class. Trevor Norris led the SV men finishing 3rd overall and 1st M2 followed by RJ Bracken 4th overall and 3rd M1.
Brody Buchwalter was 10th overall and 1st M3. Jamie Rollerson won the M4 class 11th overall followed by Alex LaFleur 13th overall and Jake Blackburn 16th overall. Wyatt Minor won the M5 class. In duals SV women again took three of the four top spots. Morgan Shaver won the duals title followed by Claire Siderman. Alysha Herich was 4th. Jack Rizzo was the highest finisher for the SVSEF men taking 4th place in duals.
"We accomplished what we set out to do this weekend. Some of our athletes that were in jeopardy of missing a trip to Junior Nationals put forth a great effort and got the results they needed to qualify," said Ware. "Our Junior Nationals team will be announced next week.
This weekend Sun Valley will once again play host for the Intermountain Division halfpipe and slopestyle Championships. Slopestyle will be Friday and halfpipe on Saturday at Dollar Mountain.