|
BY HEATHER FOSTER The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation’s Alpine athletes on the U16 Team had some great spring ski racing and heated competition at Grand Targhee Resort in Wyoming and Snowbird in Utah as the season wound down. Four athletes from the SVSEF Alpine U16 Team qualified for the U16 National Championships, which took place at Grand Targhee Resort following a venue change from Snow King due to ever-changing and challenging low-snow conditions across the West. Grand Targhee served as an excellent venue and host for the championship series, where SVSEF’s fearsome foursome had the opportunity to compete against the nation’s top U16s.
|
|
Colter Bengtson took second in Slalom at the Snow Cup at Snowbird.
|
|
|
Through their strong performances at U16 Regionals, Jasmine Smiley, Neena DeGennaro, Colter Bengtson and Henry Questad qualified and represented SVSEF in the national series which included Super G, Team Alpine Combined, Giant Slalom and Slalom. “Our SVSEF athletes skied their hearts out and were right in the mix amongst the Nation’s top U16s,” said Nate Schwing, SVSEF Alpine U16 Head Coach. “Along with the competition, U16 Nationals is a fun way to meet athletes from around the country, and it is a great experience for our athletes who qualified through their strong performances at U16 Regionals.” With no rest for the weary, a team of 15 including U16 and second-year U14 athletes, competed at the Snow Cup, which took in April at Snowbird. Renowned as being the second longest running ski race in the United States, athletes competed in two slalom and two giant slalom races over the four-day series. The weather and snow conditions were ideal for spring racing and to wrap the Intermountain Cup for the season. Neena DeGennaro stood on the second step of the podium in all four races at the Snow Cup, while Colter Bengtson snagged one second-place spot in the Slalom on April 5. SVSEF athletes raced their way into the top ten in every race of the series, rounding out a solid season.
“The Snow Cup was an excellent final series, with four days of racing under sunny skies and spring conditions,” said Schwing. “It was a lot of fun to have so much of our team attending, to be together and race together one last time! The team skied well, and race series provided ideal conditions and a fun environment to celebrate the ski racing season.” SVSEF Athlete Results at U16 Nationals Super G Women 31st - Neena DeGennaro
42nd - Jasmine Smiley Super G Men 20th - Colter Bengtson 45th - Henry Questad
Giant Slalom Women 11th - Neena DeGennaro 31st - Jasmine Smiley Slalom Women
13th - Neena DeGennaro 26th - Jasmine Smiley For complete U16 Nationals race results, visit live-timing.com. SVSEF Athlete Results at the Snow Cup
Slalom Men 6th - Paxton Harris 8th - Corbin Flood 10th - Cameron Beck
11th - Henry Questad 14th - Brooks Gove Slalom Women 2nd - Neena DeGennaro
13th - Alexandra Heidel 18th - Olivia Harrington Slalom Men – Round 2 2nd - Colter Bengtson
8th - Corbin Flood 10th - Wyatt Limburg 17th - Cameron Beck Slalom Women – Round 2
2nd - Neena DeGennaro 9th - Jasmine Smiley Giant Slalom Men 6th - Corbin Flood
7th - Declan O’Toole 9th - Paxton Harris 11th - Colter Bengtson 14th - Jake Schlatter
15th - Wyatt Limburg 16th - Cameron Beck Giant Slalom Women 2nd - Neena DeGennaro
8th - Jasmine Smiley 16th - Colette Duke 18th - Bianca Smith Giant Slalom Men Round 2
7th - Colter Bengtson 8th - Declan O’Toole 10th - Corbin Flood 11th - Henry Questad
14th - Jake Schlatter 15th - Wyatt Limburg 16th - Cameron Beck Giant Slalom Women – Round 2
2nd - Neena DeGennaro 6th - Jasmine Smiley 9th - Bianca Smith 17th - Colette Duke
For complete Snow Cup results, visit: https://imdalpine.org/race-results/.
|