For the week of March 13 - 19, 2002

Sun Valley boys capture national team title

Nordic winners at Junior Nationals

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The booty included one gold, five silvers, one bronze and over 20 top-ten placings.

Plus a great team effort by the Sun Valley Junior Nordic Ski Team boys who won the national Nordic high school championship Saturday at Ponderosa Park in McCall.

Celebrating their national high school title in Nordic skiing is the Sun Valley/Wood River team of, from left, Jack Harris, Robert Slough, Mike Sinnott, Matt DeCarufel, Chase Cleveland, George Livingston, David Vanderpool and Luke Pletcher. Courtesy photo by Ed Sinnott

Coach Rick Kapala’s J1 (ages 16-17) and J2 (14-15) boys amassed the best results as a team during the weeklong 2002 USSA Junior Nationals. "We had a pretty good week," said Kapala, whose team won the national high school title for the second time in three years.

Earning an individual national championship in Wednesday’s J1 15-kilometer classic race was Wood River High junior Mike Sinnott.

He was the first Sun Valley boy to win at nationals since Lars Flora, Jedd Young and Jess Kiesel in 1998 at McCall.

Sinnott, 17, a son of Ed and Carol Sinnott of Ketchum, overcame challenging wax and weather conditions to prevail by two seconds and give Kapala his 10th national champion in 15 years of coaching here.

Mike’s teammate Matt DeCarufel, 17, another WRHS junior, earned the bronze in snowy and rainy conditions that broke down the course and put a premium on technique and sheer determination.

"Both Mike and Matt are really good on their skis, and they’re really good double-polers," said Kapala. "Mike put the hammer down the last three or four kilometers."

Meanwhile, Sun Valley’s girls led by 17-year-old senior Ashley McQueen (4th in Friday’s freestyle) ended up eighth in national rankings.

Of the 348 skiers at Junior Nationals, 110 earned All-American status including seven from Sun Valley. They were, with their All-American events in parentheses:

J1—Mike Sinnott and Matt DeCarufel (CL, FR, RE); Ashley McQueen (FR, RE); Kaelin Kiesel (CL, FR); and Robert Slough (SP). J2—Jackson Harris (all four events); and Chase Cleveland (SP, RE).

In the Alaska Cup team standings, Alaska (1,242 points) amassed nearly 800 points in the OJ classes and won the nine-team race over New England (1,095) and third-place Intermountain (990). Intermountain had 479 of its points (48%) in the J1 classes.

"The great thing about Sun Valley and the Intermountain Division is virtually everyone is back including most of those J1s," Kapala said.

Sun Valley’s season wraps up with the annual team banquet Thursday, March 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the Horizon Room of Elkhorn Resort.

Here are Sun Valley’s placings by race including those of Colorado schoolgirls Kaelin Kiesel and Erin Magee. Abbreviations are sprints (SP), freestyle (FR), classical (CL) and relays (RE).

·  J1 boys: Mike Sinnott 17-SP, 1-CL, 4-FR, 2-RE; Matt DeCarufel 21-SP, 3-CL, 17-FR, 2-RE; and Robert Slough 7-SP, 58-CL, 23-FR, 4-RE (73 racers).

·  J1 girls: Kaelin Kiesel 11-SP, 4-CL, 11-FR, 4-RE; Ashley McQueen 13-SP, 11-CL, 4-FR, 2-RE; Alissa Praggastis 33-SP, 21-CL, 44-FR, 9-RE; Eva Bach 59-SP, 16-CL, 31-FR, 9-RE; and Erin Magee DNS-SP, 43-CL, 59-FR, 18-RE (77 racers).

·  J2 boys: Jackson Harris 4-SP, 9-CL, 7-FR, 2-RE; Chase Cleveland 10-SP, 35-CL, 16-FR, 2-RE; David Vanderpool 29-SP, 30-CL, 25-FR, 6-RE; George Livingston 32-SP, 47-CL, 43-FR, 10-RE; and Luke Pletcher 40-SP, 16-CL, 28-FR, 6-RE (51 racers).

·  J2 girls: Margii Driscoll 33-SP, 65-CL, 49-FR, 14-RE; Lexie Praggastis 39-SP, 51-CL, 35-FR, 10-RE; and Erin McQueen 43-SP, 49-CL, 24-FR, 10-RE (69 racers).

 

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