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In a season cut short on both ends by unseasonable weather and a shortage of moguls, KMS and KSC/KMS mogul competitors put their year-round training program to work and made the most out of the opportunities at hand, taking 20 wins and 370 top-30 finishes over the course of the season. Those 370 finishes included 54 podiums at every level from regional EQS ("B") competition to the Nor Am series, where KMS skiers took five top-30 spots in the overall standings while competing against many of the top mogul skiers from the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan.
Missed in last week's writeup was the 24th-place dual moguls finish at the U.S. Freestyle Championships of Tyler Wadhams '11, who was one of 13 KMS and KSC/KMS skiers to compete in the event; two other qualifying skiers—Nick Keating '10 and Allison Benedict—missed the national event because they were representing the United States in the Junior World Championships at Valmalenco, Italy.
The mogul team was not alone in racking up hundreds of quality finishes, each resulting from the hard work of a KMS student-athlete who spent the months and years prior training on and off the hill, working hard to get schoolwork done both here and on the road. As the freeride team, snowboard team and the alpine teams wrap up their seasons over the next two weeks, those summaries will also appear here. Watch for the numbers but also remember that these statistics only hint at the individual stories of the many KMS student-athletes pursuing their dreams.
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Lizzy Smith '09 skis into the top 10 at U.S. Freestyle Championships. For more photos and videos from Stratton, find the KMS Mogul Team on Facebook. |
Amidst a record-shattering March heat wave, the top mogul skiers in the United States converged on Stratton Mountain for the 2012 U.S. Freestyle Championships. KMS and KSC/KMS athletes, along with alumni, collected 21 top-30 finishes between Friday's moguls competition and Saturday's dual moguls competition. Temperatures upwards of 70 degrees during course preparation and training days forced organizers to not only salt the course but also to refrigerate the jumps, using small plastic culverts within each jump that were twice-daily filled with dry ice (solid carbon dioxide).
Bryan Zemba '10, now skiing with the U.S. Ski Team, led the team with a pair of top-15 finishes; he qualified sixth on Friday before slipping to 13th in finals, 0.03 points out of 11th and 0.22 points out of the top 10. On Saturday, he bounced back to finish sixth, falling in the round of eight to U.S. Ski Team teammate Shane Cordeau.
Darius Baradaran stepped up in both events, nipping at Bryan's heels in the moguls competition to notch a pair of career-best finishes with 14th place in moguls and 15th in duals. Thomas Rowley didn't finish the singles event but rebounded in duals to qualify sixth, taking a first-round bye into the round of 16 before being eliminated by eventual winner Cody Tempel; Thomas finished the day in 11th position, also a career-best finish. Alum Sterling Crescimanno '10 took 17th and 19th, while Colin added a 26th-place finish to round out Friday’s top 30 and then advanced to the round of 16 on Saturday, where he met Bryan in duals. Tyler Wadhams narrowly missed the top 30 in moguls competition but stepped up on Saturday to take 24th in duals.
On the women's side, the team took seven top-20 finishes over the two competitions; Lizzy Smith '09 took 10th to lead the women, scoring a career-best national championship result. Kelsey Albert '07 (11) and Kayla Burcin (13) joined Lizzy in semi-finals, Kayla's first at the national championships; Alta Curtis '10 (19), Megan Moores (24) and Kat DiMascio (28) rounded out the top 30. The women continued to ski strongly on Saturday as Kelsey (14), Lizzy (16) and Alta (18) all finished in the top 20; Kat Spilman (22) and Kat DiMascio (25) rounded out the top 30. Both Kelsey and Lizzy were eliminated in the round of 16 by U.S. Ski Team members who ended up on the podium; Kelsey fell to eventual champion K.C. Oakley while Lizzy was eliminated by second-place finisher Eliza Outtrim. Alta's pair of top-20 results also marked a career-best result, making her one of seven KMS athletes to return to nationals this year and finish better than ever before, while competing for the national championship was a first for Abe Studler and Nick Marino, both of whom narrowly missed Saturday's top 30.
Allison Benedict and Nick Keating '10 skipped U.S. Freestyle Championships to compete in the Junior World Championships at Valmalenco, Italy. Nick qualified first in the moguls competition but turned the dial too far up in finals and couldn't hold his run together; he ended up 15th on the day and then took 14th in duals. Allison, competing only in duals, skied her way into finals and ended the day in 14th.
U.S. Ski Team member Bryan Zemba '10 took eighth in his first World Cup appearance, in the 2012 FIS Freestyle Dual Moguls World Cup Final. In the first round, Bryan bested Andrey Volkov of Russia, who is currently ranked 16th in the world, to earn the chance to face off against Canada's Philippe Marquis, ranked fourth in the world. Bryan beat Marquis to meet Canada's Marc-Antoine Gagnon, who took the quarter-final win to leave Bryan in eighth place overall.
Bryan qualified for the 2012 World Cup Final as the reigning Junior World Champion in dual moguls, having beat many of the world's best junior skiers last March to take the title. After breaking his collarbone in a crash early this season, Bryan has spent most of the winter rehabbing; Megève was not only his first World Cup start but also the his first start of the 2011-12 season.
Bryan is now back in Vermont for U.S. National Championships; he will be competing tomorrow in the mogul competition and Saturday in dual moguls competition on Stratton's World Cup trail, joining both his current teammates and 13 current KMS and KSC/KMS student-athletes as the best mogul skiers in the United States vie for the national title. Nick Keating '10 and Allison Benedict, who would otherwise be in the fray at Stratton, are instead contesting for the title of Junior World Champion in Valmalenco, Italy.
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Bryan Zemba trains for U.S. National Championships at Stratton Mountain. Competition takes place tomorrow and Saturday. Watch the KMS Mogul Team page on Facebook for more updates and photos. |
The 2012 Eastern Qualifying Series for freestyle skiing concluded Sunday as Waterville Valley hosted the East Coast Junior Championships and East Coast Young Guns Championships. KMS and KSC/KMS skiers took nearly 40 top-10 finishes across the six competitions, with the young guns putting on a particularly impressive showing as they took six out of 13 possible mogul podiums and 10 out of 24 possible freeride podiums.
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East Coast Young Guns Championships |
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Moguls |
Air |
Slopestyle |
F5
1. Madison Hogg
11. Cassie Cavallo
13. Dani Heims
F6
1. Kasey Hogg
2. Delphine Esformes
5. Kaia Schmid
7. Juilanna Cavallo
10. Brinley Johnson
11. Ally Grobman
F7
1. Kassidy Lynch
M5
2. Frankie Giaccio
8. Jack T. Preschern
13. Cole D. Ward
16. Thomas A. Autiello
19. Devin Johnston
21. Christopher Imbarrato
23. Conan Green
26. Clay W. Lynch
27. Keenan Green
28. Matthew Dispenza
M6
1. Charlie Gnoza
4. Anthony Autiello
5. Cameron Solomon
6. Daktoa Stuart
7. Tyler T. Damore |
F5
7. Cassie Cavallo
F6
2. Julianna Cavallo
6. Ally Grobman
M5
13. Conan Green
19. Carter Gordon
M6
1. Tyler T. Damore
2. Dakota Stuart
3. Matthew Labaugh
M7
1. Trae R. Damore
2. Marcus Cavallo |
F5
6. Cassie Cavallo
F6
4. Julianna Cavallo
M5
17. Frankie Giaccio
21. Carter Gordon
26. Lucas B. Alvarez
29. Conan Green
M6
1. Tyler T. Damore
3. Charlie Gnoza
5. Matthew Labaugh
7. Cameron Solomon
10. Dakota Stuart
M7
1. Trae R. Damore
2. Marcus Cavallo |
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East Coast Junior Championships |
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Moguls |
Air |
Slopestyle |
F3
10. Jia Hong
14. Emma L. Fischer
19. Rose O'Brien
F4
4. Olivia Giaccio
7. Mazie Hayden
8. Alexandra Lanka
M3
15. Ben Arquit
M4
4. Stewart Olson
5. Kalman Heims
7. Collin Campbell
8. Griffin K. Ward
9. Ben E. Mason
11. Mark Preschern
13. Zachy Noah Simpson
16. Luc Esformes
22. Blake Levitts
28. Kyle Rasmussen |
M4
29. Collin Campbell |
F4
7. Olivia Giaccio
M4
26. Ben E. Mason |
Congratulations to all the athletes on another strong EQS season!
U.S. Ski Team member Bryan Zemba '10, who recently returned to on-snow training after a collarbone injury earlier this season, is headed to Megève, France, for the 2012 FIS Freestyle Dual Moguls World Cup Final. Bryan earned the start as the reigning Junior World Champion in dual moguls; Megève will be not only his first World Cup start but also his first start of the 2012 season.
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Nick Marino (left) skis to a fourth-place finish at Steamboat. (SkinDog SunShield photo) |
The combined efforts of the KMS and KSC/KMS mogul and freeskiing teams garnered a total of 15 top-30 finishes, including five top-10 results, at last week's U.S. Junior National Championships. Competition started with men's halfpipe on Wednesday, March 7, where Cooper Babbitt qualified for finals in 16th and then took 14th overall with a run that included a huge 7 into a switch 3. The freeride team moved over to the slope course on Thursday, where Sam Gnoza took 24th and Devon Savino 28th in their respective heats; they then moved on to aerials on Friday, where Devon just missed stepping onto the podium and took a fourth-place finish behind two U.S. Ski Team members and a U.S. Ski Team Development Group competitor. Ari Schenider took 18th overall, seventh in his age group, while Tec Calcagni was seventh in his age group and 23rd overall; Sam Gnoza took 28th on the day, 10th in the M3 category.
Mogul competition began on Friday, March 9, as Kayla Burcin led the team with a ninth-place overall finish and took second in her age group. Allison Benedict took 11th overall, while Hannah Soar— a first-year competitor at junior nationals—took 24th overall and the top spot in the F4 age group; Kat Spilman took 26th on the day, sixth in her age group. On the men's side, several KMS skiers had trouble putting together a top-to-bottom run, but Tyler Wadhams '11 was able to put one together and take 24th; Abe Studler, another first-year competitor at junior nationals, just missed the top 30 overall but took sixth in the M3 age class. Dual mogul competition on Sunday saw the strongest mogul skiing of the weekend for KMS and KSC/KMS as Megan Moores took seventh in the women's competition and Nick Marino skied consistently all day to take fourth for the men.
Sam Gnoza also took third overall in the combined standings on the basis of all-around finishes. For photos and videos from the event, check out the KMS Mogul Team Facebook page.
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Jia Hong skis to a second-place finish in the Vermont State Championships, the regional final for EQS mogul competition. For more mogul photos, visit the KMS Mogul Team on Facebook. |
KMS and KSC/KMS skiers in the Eastern Qualifying Series ("B" series) wrapped up regular-season events this weekend with the Vermont State Chapmionships at Killington. 26 KMS and KSC/KMS skiers finished in the top 30 after Saturday's two-run competition on Conclusion, led by a trio of podium finishes—Griffen Ward bounced back from a first-run crash to take the boys' win in the two-run event while Jia Hong took second and Olivia Giaccio tied for third in the girls' standings. KSC/KMS skiers took another 23 top-30 finishes in Sunday's freeride competitions.
With weather that remained better than forecast—the predicted showers materialized only in the form of light and mostly frozen precipitation in the morning before the sun came out and the sky turned blue—both spectators and competitors were able to enjoy a full day of competition. Despite the shorter course and softer bumps than those seen on the venue during the ECS and Nor Am competitions this season, Conclusion still proved a serious challenge for the younger skiers. KMS and KSC/KMS athletes met that challenge while taking those 26 top-30 finishes.
Joining Jia and Olivia in the girls' top 30 were Madison Hogg (7), Mazie Hayden (11), Emma Fischer (14), Kasey Hogg (16), Rose O'Brien (20), Delphine Esformes (22), Alexandra Lanka (23), Kaia Schmid (28) and Dani Heims (30). On the boys' side, Luc Esformes (7), Stewart Olson (9) and Mark Preschern (10) joined Griffin in the top 10; Ben Arquit (15), Matthew Dispenza (17), Ben Mason (18), Blake Levitts (20), Devin Johsnton (22), Carson Fischer (23), Jack Preschern (25), Christopher Imbarrato (27), Kyle Rasmussen (28), Cole Ward (29) and Charlie Gnoza (30) rounded out the top 30. Olivia, Madison, Kasey and Charlie were also the top finishers in their respective age groups.
In Sunday's air and slopestyle competitions, the girls led the way with eight top-10 finishes. Cassie Cavallo took fifth, Juliana Cavallo seventh, and Ally Grobman eighth in the air competition, while Olivia Giaccio took third, Cassie Cavallo eighth, Julianna Cavallo ninth, Ally Grobman 10th and Elise Sharrock 11th in the slopestyle. Julianna led her age group in both events. On the boys' side, Collin Campbell took 10th in the air event and was joined in the top 30 by Conan Green (14), Dylan Damore (19), Carter Gorden (20), Jack Petrone (22), Tyler Damore (23), Trae Damore (25), Matthew Labaugh (26), Marcus Cavallo (27), Dakota Stuart (28) and Brendan Konigsberg (29). In slopestyle, Charlie Gnoza took 20th and was joined in the top 30 by Ben Mason (23), Jack Petrone (27) and Matthew Labaugh (29). Jack was the top competitor in his age group in both competitions, while Dylan was the top M6 competitor in the air event and Charlie the top M6 competitor in slopestyle.
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Nick Keating '10 skis to a Nor Am event win at Killington. For more photos from Nor Am competition at Killington, visit the KMS Mogul Team on Facebook. |
Nick Keating '10 led the freestyle team as the 2012 Nor Am tour wrapped up in Killington this past weekend, adding a win to his earlier podiums and ending the season in third overall in Nor Am Cup standings. Four KMS and KSC/KMS skiers has career-best Nor Am finishes in Friday's competition, and in all, they took 13 top-20 finishes from the two mogul events at Killington.
On Friday, Nick won qualifying, advanced to the four-way super final in second place behind the U.S. Ski Team's Landon Gardner, and then posted the top air and speed scores of the day—along with a turns score matched only by second-place finisher Reed Snyderman—to take the win with a 24.63 overall score. He was joined in the top 20 by seven other KMS and KSC/KMS skiers. Darius Baradaran landed in a four-way tie for 13th that also included KMS alum Sterling Crescimanno '10. On the women's side, KMS athletes charged into finals with Kelsey Albert '07 taking eighth, Allison Benedict 12th, Kayla Burcin 13th, Alta Curtis '10 14th and Lizzy Smith 18th. Four KMS skiers—Nick, Allison, Kayla and Alta—had their career-best Nor Am finishes on Friday. Colin Lang took 27th and KMS alum Bartley Damon '05 took 29th to round out the men's top 30.
Competition resumed on Sunday under blue skies and cold temperatures. In the women's competition, Lizzy and Kelsey qualified for finals; Lizzy took 13th place and Kelsey—who was competing despite bruised ribs—ended the day in 16th position. On the men's side, Nick took the top spot in qualifying and was joined in the finals by Sterling; Thomas Rowley missed finals by a narrow margin and ended the day in 17th position. In finals, Sterling put down a solid run to take 11th, while Nick came off the pitch with tremendous speed and was unable to gather himself for the second air, ending the day in 14th.
In the overall Nor Am Grand Prix Cup, Nick ended the year in third position with 371 points. Sterling collected 123 points to take 18th, while Darius and Thomas were close behind in 21st and 22nd, holding 101 and 99 points, respectively. Kelsey led the women in the overall, taking eighth with 216 points; Lizzy took 19th with 109 points. Allison, with starts at only Val St. Come and at Killington, was able to collect 38 points and 33rd position, while Kayla—with only last weekend's two starts—earned 32 points and 36th in the overall standings. Alta and Megan rounded out the women's standings in 41st and 42nd position, while Bartley took 30th and Colin 52nd in the men's standings.
Based on their success in competition this year, Nick Keating and Allison Benedict have been selected to represent the United States in the Junior World Championships this March in Valmalenco, Italy. They will compete against the best junior mogul skiers from throughout the world for the title of Junior World Champion.
With extra time on their hands over February break, some of the KMS skiers put together a short park-and-pipe edit. Check it out:
February Break, 2012 from Ari Schneider on Vimeo.
Congratulations to Kyle Burcin, James Ferri and Wyatt Queirolo, who have qualified to J2 Nationals, which brings together competitors from the top ski academies and race programs throughout the country.
Vermont Cup Finals are this weekend at Killington and Middlebury Snow Bowl, while J3 State Championships wrap up with another pair of slalom and giant slalom races; boys will race at Sugarbush, while girls will race at Burke. Volunteer opportunities are still open for Saturday's Vermont Cup slalom on Needles Eye; contact Nicole Kondziela—nkondziela@killingtonmountainschool.org—for more information.
Eastern Cup racing is ongoing with Super-G racing wrapping up yesterday and turning to giant slalom racing at Burke today and tomorrow.
The Hole Shot Tour comes to Killington March 6-8. This is one of three events in a tour that bridges the gap between the Revolution Tour and World Cup boardercross and skicross events, from which the top athletes can qualify for World Cup and Junior World Championship starts. Logan Farmer will be representing the KMS snowboard team in the event.
Mogul and freeride competitors will be headed to U.S. Junior Nationals at Steamboat, Colo., next week. Congratulations to Cooper Babbitt, Darius Baradaran, Allison Benedict, Kayla Burcin, Tec Calcagni, Sam Gnoza, Colin Lang, Nick Marino, Megan Moores, Thomas Rowley, Devon Savino, Ari Schneider, Hannah Soar, Kat Spillman, Abe Studler and Tyler Wadhams, who have earned start positions at the event.
J4 state championships will be held March 17-18 at Pico. Tessa Queirolo, Mikayla Stolar, Tory Dobyns, Colleen Byron, Felicia A. Ayer, Matt Price, Joseph Salisbury-Jennings and Dan Schwartz have qualified based on their regular-season results; Isabelle Jenne, Julia Martin, Macgregor Peterson, Drake Mead, Andrew Desino, John Bianchi and Matthew Zackin have qualified for the J4 Shootout, where they will each be gunning for one of 23 additional state championship quota spots.
Killington Mountain School’s Nick Keating ’10 Heads into Sunday’s Final Nor Am Event Ranked First in Overall Standings; KMS Freestyle Team To Host International Athletes in FIS Freestyle Nor Am Cup Finals This Week at Killington Resort
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| Nick Keating skis to a win in the first of two Nor Am mogul competitions at Killington Resort, earning a series points lead entering the final event on Sunday. |
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