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ENLARGE
VAIL, Colorado — Training is nice, but it's time to race. The runs count today with the girls and boys downhills at the J3 Junior Olympics on Golden Peak in Vail.
The athletes set a bit of a pecking order for today's races with the last day of training Friday. Nicholas Mitchell of Welch Valley (Red Wing, Minn.) won for the second day in a row on the boys side with a time of 46.64 seconds. For the girls, Aspen's Danielle Brownell-Patty (47.97) edged Ski and Snowboard Club Vail's Caroline Byrne (48.61). The two had tied in Thursday's run.
After Thursday's postcard weather, the course hardened, speeding up times and the wind howled from the west, making conditions more challenging.
“You realize everyone's out there,” Brownell-Patty said. “Everybody has to face what you face, You have to be the one to go get it.”
Tuck time
Aerodynamic was the word of the day in the finish corral. All the athletes will be figuring out how to get in the smallest crouch possible coming off Launching Pad, the course's main jump.
Though her specialty is giant slalom, Brownell-Patty seems pretty comfortable so far in downhill. While good runs in training don't guarantee results on race day, it doesn't hurt.
“I feel that it really raises my self confidence and helps me prepare better for the race, and knowing what I'm up against, and knowing what I'm doing well and not doing well,” Mitchell said.
“If you train hard, you race well,” Brownell-Patty said. “You're going to train like you race. I think I put everything into my training. I think tomorrow is going to be faster, more fun and better.”
If training is any indication, both races today have lots of intrigue. In the girls race at 10:30 a.m., Brownell-Patty and Byrne are probably the favorites. Buck Hill's Montana Marzario (Burnsville, Minn.) finished fourth Friday, one day after a third on Thursday.
These young ladies all know each other well. Brownell-Patty and Marzario went against each other often last year and Byrne and the former also boarded together in Steamboat Springs.
SSCV's Erika McCormick threw her hat into the ring by finishing third Friday, moving up from 20th Thursday.
“Erika switched her equipment,” SSCV coach J.J. Jensen said. “We got her on a faster pair of skis and she was able to put one in there. She skis with a lot of talent.”
The scariest moment of the day was when SSCV's Sara Gezon crashed across the finish line, losing her helmet. The crash delayed the training run as the medical staff took every precaution.
Despite the spill, Gezon finished in fifth for the second-straight day. She's been the bib-mover in training, skiing in Nos. 55 and 53. Believe it or not, Gezon is slated to go today, so she'll be one to watch.
SSCV's Molly McGrew might also make some noise. She jumped from 19th Thursday to eighth Friday.
Yo, Adrian
So does Mitchell just wish that racing was already under way?
“A little bit because I'm doing so well,” he said. “But there are still things that I'm working on that I can do better on the race.”
Like many, Mitchell was working Launch Pad and trying to have a stronger outside ski on the final left-roundhouse turn of the course. He should have plenty of company in the hunt for the podium.
Telluride's Hayden Fake is definitely the real thing. He finished second Friday after a fourth Thursday. Welch Valley's Maxwell Nygren was the jumper of the day for the boys, moving from 23rd Thursday to third Friday. Also hopping was Lacrosse, Wis.'s Samuel Leinfelder (22nd to fifth).
Buck Hill's Connor Coasdale is in the mix, finishing fifth Friday for his second training top 10. Aspen's Travis Lundin and Devon Cardamone and Nicholas Veth of the Taos (N.M.) Ski Academy also have double top 10s.
SSCV was represented nicely by “The Italian Stallions.” Nick Santaniello cracked the top 10 for the second time in as many days in seventh and teammate Nicholas Romano was 11th. After being a scratch Thursday, SSCV's Alex Leever finished T16 Friday.
“I think if you look at the guys's results, we're going to be looking more at the way they skied rather than the results and times,” Jensen said. “We've just got to clean it up. If it doesn't snow much, the course is going to be like a rocket tomorrow.”
Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934 or cfreud@vaildaily.com.
Junior Olympics
At Golden Peak
Today
Downhill, 10:30 a.m.
Sunday
Super-G, 10:30 a.m.
Monday
Girls giant slalom, 10 a.m.
Tuesday
Boys giant slalom, 10 a.m.
Wednesday
Slalom, 9:30 a.m., at Beaver Creek's Bear Trap
The athletes set a bit of a pecking order for today's races with the last day of training Friday. Nicholas Mitchell of Welch Valley (Red Wing, Minn.) won for the second day in a row on the boys side with a time of 46.64 seconds. For the girls, Aspen's Danielle Brownell-Patty (47.97) edged Ski and Snowboard Club Vail's Caroline Byrne (48.61). The two had tied in Thursday's run.
After Thursday's postcard weather, the course hardened, speeding up times and the wind howled from the west, making conditions more challenging.
“You realize everyone's out there,” Brownell-Patty said. “Everybody has to face what you face, You have to be the one to go get it.”
Tuck time
Aerodynamic was the word of the day in the finish corral. All the athletes will be figuring out how to get in the smallest crouch possible coming off Launching Pad, the course's main jump.
Though her specialty is giant slalom, Brownell-Patty seems pretty comfortable so far in downhill. While good runs in training don't guarantee results on race day, it doesn't hurt.
“I feel that it really raises my self confidence and helps me prepare better for the race, and knowing what I'm up against, and knowing what I'm doing well and not doing well,” Mitchell said.
“If you train hard, you race well,” Brownell-Patty said. “You're going to train like you race. I think I put everything into my training. I think tomorrow is going to be faster, more fun and better.”
If training is any indication, both races today have lots of intrigue. In the girls race at 10:30 a.m., Brownell-Patty and Byrne are probably the favorites. Buck Hill's Montana Marzario (Burnsville, Minn.) finished fourth Friday, one day after a third on Thursday.
These young ladies all know each other well. Brownell-Patty and Marzario went against each other often last year and Byrne and the former also boarded together in Steamboat Springs.
SSCV's Erika McCormick threw her hat into the ring by finishing third Friday, moving up from 20th Thursday.
“Erika switched her equipment,” SSCV coach J.J. Jensen said. “We got her on a faster pair of skis and she was able to put one in there. She skis with a lot of talent.”
The scariest moment of the day was when SSCV's Sara Gezon crashed across the finish line, losing her helmet. The crash delayed the training run as the medical staff took every precaution.
Despite the spill, Gezon finished in fifth for the second-straight day. She's been the bib-mover in training, skiing in Nos. 55 and 53. Believe it or not, Gezon is slated to go today, so she'll be one to watch.
SSCV's Molly McGrew might also make some noise. She jumped from 19th Thursday to eighth Friday.
Yo, Adrian
So does Mitchell just wish that racing was already under way?
“A little bit because I'm doing so well,” he said. “But there are still things that I'm working on that I can do better on the race.”
Like many, Mitchell was working Launch Pad and trying to have a stronger outside ski on the final left-roundhouse turn of the course. He should have plenty of company in the hunt for the podium.
Telluride's Hayden Fake is definitely the real thing. He finished second Friday after a fourth Thursday. Welch Valley's Maxwell Nygren was the jumper of the day for the boys, moving from 23rd Thursday to third Friday. Also hopping was Lacrosse, Wis.'s Samuel Leinfelder (22nd to fifth).
Buck Hill's Connor Coasdale is in the mix, finishing fifth Friday for his second training top 10. Aspen's Travis Lundin and Devon Cardamone and Nicholas Veth of the Taos (N.M.) Ski Academy also have double top 10s.
SSCV was represented nicely by “The Italian Stallions.” Nick Santaniello cracked the top 10 for the second time in as many days in seventh and teammate Nicholas Romano was 11th. After being a scratch Thursday, SSCV's Alex Leever finished T16 Friday.
“I think if you look at the guys's results, we're going to be looking more at the way they skied rather than the results and times,” Jensen said. “We've just got to clean it up. If it doesn't snow much, the course is going to be like a rocket tomorrow.”
Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934 or cfreud@vaildaily.com.
Junior Olympics
At Golden Peak
Today
Downhill, 10:30 a.m.
Sunday
Super-G, 10:30 a.m.
Monday
Girls giant slalom, 10 a.m.
Tuesday
Boys giant slalom, 10 a.m.
Wednesday
Slalom, 9:30 a.m., at Beaver Creek's Bear Trap
