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STORY BY HEATHER FOSTER PHOTOS COURTESY OF SUN VALLEY SKI EDUCATION FOUNDATION Sun Valley Ski Education hosted the Sixth Annual Gary Black, Jr. Memorial Race on Saturday, March 25. Girls and boys from the SVSEF Alpine U8, U10, U12, and U14 teams competed in a dual-panel ski race and the teams’ end-of-season awards and Gary Black Jr. Memorial Race perpetual trophies were presented at the conclusion. The Gary Black Memorial race honors and memorializes a ski racing community legend, Gary Black, Jr., whose life was taken too soon in 2017. It honors Gary’s love for ski racing, the enthusiasm of what it's like to be a ski racer and continues his legacy through the next generation of ski racers.
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The U10 Girls Podium featured first-place winner Alta Questad, second-place runner-up Presley Jensen, third-place finisher Lauren Larrabee, fourth-place finisher Sophie Robins and fifth-place finisher Tea Smither.
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Black’s success, commitment, and enthusiasm to the ski racing community shone bright this weekend. While the race was happening in Sun Valley, Black was also being honored and inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in Big Sky, Mont., as a member of the 2021-2022 class. It was an important weekend for the Black family, recognizing his induction, and seeing the impact of this annual race in his honor. “On behalf of my family, I’d like to thank SVSEF for their continued support and promotion of the Gary Black, Jr Memorial Race,” said Amanda Rising Black, eldest daughter of the late Gary Black, Jr. “We were so sorry to miss the festivities this year, but ironically, they were held the same day that our father was to be inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame.” Black said it was hard to believe the race is now in its sixth year.
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Halsten Bruun and Marie McNeal won the U10 Coaches Award.
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“Our father would have loved to see how much SVSEF has grown as an organization in the past six years,” she added. “Not only have the numbers of athletes participating in the program increased, but they have placed several athletes on the U.S. Team. He also would have been especially proud of their expanded Grass Roots to Grand Stage programming and their vision around inclusivity and opportunity for the youth of the Wood River Valley. We are so fortunate to live in a community that can provide that resource to all. Thank you, SVSEF—next year we’ll be there with bells on!” Costumes are a tradition at the Gary Black, Jr. Memorial Race, along with big smiles, friendly camaraderie and competitive spirits. The dual-format race makes for fun competition among teammates, seeing who can get down the hill fastest. Alta Questad from the U10 Travel Team skied into first place in the girls U10 field, and Alex Grant won for the U10 boys. In U12 girls, Savannah Pringle came in first place and Henry Questad won on the boys' side. Lucy Stevenson and Espen Schernthanner stood atop the podium for the U14 girls and boys respectively. Podiums or not, all the athletes felt the fun vibes of wrapping their season amongst their teammates under blue skies and sunshine.
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The U12 Boys pódium featured Henry Questad in first place, Cameron Beck in second, Thijs Lloyd in third, Charlie Spengler in fourth and Brixen Ehleringer in fifth.
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“Although it seems like this winter will not go away, we were greeted with a blue bird day,” said Chuck Harris, SVSEF Alpine Junior Program Director. “We had more than 140 kids racing, and they all put on a show. All the kids and coaches were in costumes and the barbeque was on all day. I could not think of a better way to end the season for our youth programs.” At the conclusion of the races, the individual year-end awards were presented for boys and girls in each age group including the Most Improved, Coaches Award, Cheeso Award, Outstanding Skier Awards, and the Howard Dean Award in the U8 category. The Gary Black, Jr. Memorial Perpetual Trophies were also presented. The Gretchen Fraser Award for fastest U10 Female went to Alta Questad and the Pete Patterson Award for fastest U10 Male went to Alex Grant. The Kathleen Harrison Mortimer Award for the fastest U12 Female was awarded to Savannah Pringle and the Billy Klein Award for the fastest U12 Male was awarded to Henry Questad. The Bonnie Russell Award for the fastest U14 Female went to Lucy Stevenson and the Smith Goggle Award for the fastest U14 Male went to Espen Schernthanner. Gary Black, Jr. Memorial Race Results:
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Young racers gathered for the Gary Black Jr. Memorial Awards Ceremony at the bottom of Warm Springs.
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U8 Girls 1 - Kayla Kloster 2 - Dylan Spengler 3 - Blakely Martens
4 - Morgan Thomas 5 - Chandler Letson 6 - Estelle Turzian 7 - Serena (Nani) Sheue
8 - Blakeslee Tindall 9 - Rosie Hill 10 - Palmer Burwell 11 - Elise Eng Greener
12 - Aveline McMahan 13 - Kyle Bruun U8 Boys 1 - Vance Gardiner
2 - Ridge Crist 3 - Dillon Wells 4 - Bennett Everson 5 - Huxley Binns
6 - Cole Martens 7 - Grey Hegewald 8 - Dylan Smiley 9 - Jax Hegewald
10 - Wade Carr 11 - Bryce Gilmore 12 - Owen Brennan 13 - Arthur McNeal
14 - Samuel Sattler 15 - Smith Matthews 16 - Werner Mcnamara 17 - Nathan Sattler
18 - Patrick Phillips 19 - Thomas Banta 20 - Kingsley Bruun 21 - Luca Smither
U10 Girls 1 - Alta Questad 2 - Presley Jensen 3 - Lauren Larrabee
4 - Sophie Robins 5 - Tea Smither 6 - Amelia Beck 7 - Marie McNeal
8 - Zula Van Der Meulen 9 - Charlotte Pittsley 10 - Georgia Bea Stansberry 11 - Simone Spachman
12 - Katherine Morrison 13 - Samatha Heidel 14 - Marlow Jones 15 - Olivia Heyser
16 - Hadley Gouley 17 - Lilla Bloedorn 18 - Josie Dondero 19 - Rienza Buoncristiani
20 - Gigi Hill 21 - Quincy Gadhia 22 - Sigrid Hutchinson 23 - Valentina Holman
24 - Annika Neumann 25 - Ivy Mcnamara 26 - Kaitlyn Cooper U10 Boys
1 - Alex Grant 2 - Halsten Bruun 3 - Logan Steel 4 - Chase Martens
5 - Walker Grove 6 - Asa Sattler 7 - Wyatt Matthews 8 - Dunning Kochvar
9 - Keller Spachman 10 - William Presnell 11 - Nolan Garza 12 - Ren Berrige
13 - Jandi Gonzalez U12 Girls 1 - Savannah Pringle 2 - Piper Spengler
3 - Imogen Hutchisen 4 - Olivia Harrington 5 - Jennings Fraser 6 - Camille Reid
7 - Brianna Smiley 8 - Halley McGrew 9 - Lilly Little 10 - Makenna Steel
11 - Gia Luem 12 - Aviella Buoncristiani 13 - Brady Bloomfield 14 - Irie Black
15 - Reese Woodward 16 - Ellie Hill 17 - Hartley Tindall 18 - Bailey Presnell
19 - Piper Jones 20 - Elsa Neumann U12 Boys 1 - Henry Questad
2 - Cameron Beck 3 - Thijs Lloyd 4 - Charlie Spengler 5 - Brixen Ehleringer
6 - James Holman 7 - Alex Brown 8 - Cash Mintz 9 - Eli Sattler
10 - Coen Lamb 11 - Hunter Gove 12 - Cody Lloyd 13 - Matthew Thurman
14 - Ian Lozada 15 - Jasper Pott U14 Girls 1 - Lucy Stevenson
2 - Sophie Kanowsky 3 - Kaden Snell 4 - Avery Logsdon 5 - Tessa Dondero
6 - Abbot Geer 7 - Lilah Bicas-Dolgen U14 Boys 1 - Espen Schernthanner
2 - Briggs Stevenson 3 - Brooks Gove 4 - Kyle Cooper Roy Hobson Award - Fastest Female and Male of the day
Savannah Pringle Henry Questad U8 Year End Awards Coaches Award Girls: (Coachable, listens, and good teammate)
Kayla Kloster, Uzi Hale Coaches Award Boys: (Coachable, listens and good teammate) Makay Johnson, Dylan Smiley Most Improved Girls:
Jandi Gonzales, India Conway Most Improved Boys: Cole Martens, Emil Beatty Cheeso Girls Award: (Getting after it any conditions)
Clementine Brumbach Cheeso Boys Award: (Getting after it any conditions) Harrison Wettach Howard Dean Award: (Shows a true love of skiing)
Dylan Spengler Howard Dean Award: (Shows a true love of skiing) Dunning Kochvar U10 Year End Awards
Most Improved Josie Dondero, Asa Sattler Coaches Award Halsten Bruun, Marie McNeal
Outstanding Skiers Alta Questad, Alex Grant U12 Year End Awards Most Improved Award
Liv Harrington, Wesley Sewell Coaches Award Piper Spengler, Cam Beck Cheeso Mountain Kidd Award
Cami Reid, Corbin Flood Gary Black Jr. Perpetual Awards Gretchen Fraser Award Fastest U10 Female - Alta Questad
Pete Patterson Award Fastest U10 Male - Alex Grant Kathleen Harrison Mortimer Award Fastest U12 Female - Savannah Pringle
Billy Klein Award Fastest U12 Male - Henry Questad Bonnie Russell Award Fastest U14 Female - Lucy Stevenson
Smith Goggle Award Fastest U14 Male - Espen Schernthanner
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