Ski & Snowboard Club Vail athletes excel at SYNC Series Rocky Mountain Division U16 Rocky Central junior championship qualifiers

Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (SSCV) played host to the SYNC Series Rocky Mountain Division U16 Rocky Central junior championship qualifiers at Golden Peak Feb. 14-18.

Fourteen and 15-year-old Alpine skiers from throughout the Rocky Mountain Division of U.S. Ski & Snowboard gave it their all in two giant slalom and two slalom races, hoping to secure a coveted spot at the U16 Rocky Central championships, to be held March 6-10 in Winter Park. There, the top U16 athletes in the Rocky Central region will converge to compete for a spot at U16 Nationals. 

SSCV athletes proved that months of preparation on and off the hill really do pay off, securing 12 podiums and 45 top-10 overall spots across the four days of racing. Twelve SSCV boys and seven SSCV girls qualified for the U16 Rocky Central championships.

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SSCV Head U16 mens coach Ian Dunlop stated, “It’s never an easy week with the added pressure of the qualification looming over the athletes’ minds. Our boys handled the pressure well. We’ll be rolling deep with the largest contingent of athletes at the Rocky Central championship events at Winter Park in March. We’ll take the momentum and focus our efforts towards improving on these results going forward.”

Adam Chadbourne, SSCV U16 head women’s coach, stated, “Seven women from the U16 ranks qualified from the races at Vail this past week, and the speed races in Aspen last month, to attend the Rocky/Central championships in Winter Park in early March.”

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“The coaching staff are super proud of all of the girls for putting in their best effort during the qualifiers. They were well prepared, focused and skied aggressively,” Chadbourne continued.

“Though a few on our team came up just short of their goal of qualifying (including the first and third alternates), they all skied with courage and gave it everything they had.”

Only 22 girls qualify for the championships. Those not qualifying to the Rocky Central championships will attend the RMD Championships/Prater Cup in Crested Butte, also in early March.

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SSCV Alpine Program Director Brad Wall stated, “It has been great for SSCV to host this qualifying event. The Rocky Mountain Division has an incredibly competitive group of U16 athletes as shown by the recent results at international U16 events in Germany and Slovenia with the U.S Team comprised of athletes from this region.”

“It is great for our SSCV athletes to compete on their home hill and this series has given SSCV the opportunity to showcase the full versatility of Gold Peak, utilizing multiple trails for the series,” Wall continued.

“Congratulations to all of the competitors and good luck in the upcoming championship events.”

Podiums and SSCV Top-10 results

February 14 – girls slalom race No. 1

1- Logan Grosdidier – SSP

2- Abby Olson – SSP

3- Viktoria Zaytseva  – SSCV

4- Lara Huml – SSCV

6 – Palmer Ulvestad – SSCV

7- Maizy Douglas – SSCV

9- Anika Jobson – SSCV

February 14 girls slalom race No. 2

1- Viktoria Zaytseva – SSCV

2- Abby Olson – SSP

3- Lara Huml – SSCV

4- Katie McDonald – SSCV

6- Maizy Douglas – SSCV

8- Anika Jobson – SSCV

9- Anabelle Zurbay – SSCV

February 15 girls giant slalom 

1- Logan Grosdidier – SSP

2- Abby Olson – SSP

3- Viktoria Zaytseva – SSCV

4- Lara Huml – SSCV

5- Katie McDonald – SSCV

6- Maizy Douglas – SSCV

7- Anika Jobson – SSCV

February 15 boys giant slalom

1- Fletcher Hutto – AVSC

2- Miko Lewis – SSCV

3- Rick Shay – SSCV

4- William Erickson – SSCV

5- Weston Roach – SSCV

8- Garrett Pooley – SSCV

10- Enzo Napoli – SSCV

February 16 girls giant slalom 

1- Abby Olson – SSP

2- Viktoria Zaytseva – SSCV

3- Lara Huml – SSCV

4- Katie McDonald – SSCV

5- Maizy Douglas – SSCV

6- Anika Jobson – SSCV

February 16 boys giant slalom

1- Caspian Troan – SSP

2- Fletcher Hutto – AVSC

3- Calvin Schaffler – SSCV

4- Oliver Helland – SSCV

5- Oliver Kullberger – SSCV

7- Miko Lewis – SSCV

8- Weston Roach – SSCV

9- Rick Shay – SSCV

10- William Erickson – SSCV

February 17 – boys slalom race No. 1

1- Jackson Leever – SSCV      

2- William Erickson – SSCV

3- Fletcher Hutto – AVSC

6- Rick Shay – SSCV

8 – Weston Roach – SSCV

9- Garrett Pooley – SSCV

10- Enzo Napoli – SSCV

February 17 boys slalom race No. 2

1- Fletcher Hutto – AVSC

2- William Erickson – SSCV

3- Caspian Troan – SSP

5- Jackson Leever – SSCV

6- Calvin Schaffler – SSCV

7- Oliver Helland – SSCV

10- Oliver Kullberger – SSCV

For a complete list of results, visit http://www.usskiandsnowboard.org.