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KMS and KSC/KMS skicross racers led the charge at USASA Nationals; Mazie Hayden took the win in the Girls 10-12 division, while Taylor Doxsee '11 took the win in the Men's 18+ event. BOOST student-athlete Chloe Pultar took first in Girls 10-12 slopestyle as well as fourth in halfpipe and second amongst girls 13 and younger in the rail jam. Jack Sylvester added another podium to the tally with a second-place finish in Skier Men 13-15, while Tec Calcagni just missed the top 30 in that event and then took 10th in the halfpipe competition. Charlie Gnoza claimed a pair of podium finishes, taking third in both slopestyle and halfpipe competition for the nine-and-under crowd. In the Open Men's class, Ari Schneider took 13th in the halfpipe and 23rd in slopestyle, while KSC/KMS alum Matt Crowe took 15th in the halfpipe and 28th in slopestyle. Max Tarricone added two more top-30 results with a 16th-place finish in halfpipe and a 24th-place finish in slopestyle for the Boys 10-12 division.
On the snowboard side, Logan Farmer took the top KMS result with a consolation-final win in the Youth Men division for boardercross, adding a fifth-place finish in that event to a 13th-place finish in giant slalom and a 15th-place finish in slalom. BOOST student-athlete Sophie Anderson took seventh in slopestyle for Youth Women; KSC/KMS competitor Maggie Leon also rode into the top 30 with a 28th-place finish in the same division. Kamran Gossieaux took top-twenty finishes in both slalom and giant slalom in the Junior Men category, while BOOST student-athlete Shane Smith rode strong to move up 30 spots from his ranking in Breaker Boys slopestyle and then qualified for brackets in boardercross. Nikki Sardelli crashed in the Breaker Girls boardercross quarterfinals, finishing the day in 16th position.
The freeride team had its last Vermont events of the 2011-12 season over the past few weeks, with the Rev Tour and Carinthia Open at Mt. Snow before the final K-Town Showdown of the season. Many of the freeride athletes will be headed to USASA National Championships at Colorado's Copper Mountain, where they will be competing for halfpipe, slopestyle and rail jam titles against competitors from throughout the country.
The season's last Rev Tour stop began on March 15 with slopestyle competition in which KSC/KMS alum Matt Crowe took 23rd and several KMS athletes—Sam Gnoza (31), Cooper Babbitt (33), Tec Calcagni (34), Ari Schneider (38) and Eric Unterberger (41)—stacked up just outside the top 30. Competition moved to the halfpipe the following day as Matt took sixth and Cooper seventh; Tec and Ari rounded out the top 20 in 15th and 18th. The Carinthia Open kicked into gear the following day as Devon Savino qualified for finals in the Pro division and Jack Sylvester took third in the Amateur division.
Despite the summer weather that threatened to derail the event, the Killington Terrain Parks crew worked hard and hosted the final competition in the K-Town Showdown series. KMS and KSC/KMS skiers and riders made the best of the rail jam format as Joey Leon and Robbie Ettori took first and third in the snowboard grom division while Josh Tarricone and Sam Gnoza took second and third for skier groms. In the open division, Maggie Leon took a bunch of swings at two big tricks—a frontside lip on the downbar and gap to 50-50 on the down-flat-down rail—to grab third place in the women's open category. For a full report on the KSC/KMS snowboarders at the event, including video, check out the KSC/KMS Snowboard Team blog.
With a strong season of USASA Southern Vermont Series competition behind them, freeride competitors are ready for USASA National Championships at Colorado's Copper Mountain. Ari Schneider, Tec Calcagni, Sam Gnoza, Eric Unterberger, Jack Sylvester, Josh Tarricone, Max Tarricone, Charlie Gnoza and Carter Gordon—nine athletes in total—qualified to represent Vermont at Copper. Josh skied well enough throughout the series not only to qualify for nationals but also took the Southern Vermont Series halfpipe title in the Skier Men (13-15) age group.
"Everyone skied great this winter, and I'm really looking forward to everyone showing off their skills on a national level," said Coach DJ Montigny.
USASA Southern Vermont Series competition has wrapped up for the year and now competitors are preparing for USASA Nationals at Copper Mountain. The Southern Vermont Series—one of the most competitive in USASA with multiple ski and snowboard academies and strong competitors in racing, cross, park and pipe competitions—named its top athletes in each age division and event. KMS and KSC/KMS competitors took five titles and an additional 10 top-five finishes from the 2011-12 season.
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Nikki Sardelli, competing in Breaker Girls: slalom, giant slalom and boardercross champion
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Logan Farmer, Youth Men: boardercross champion; second in slalom and giant slalom
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Mazie Hayden, Skier Girls 10-12: skicross champion
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Ethan Farmer, Menehune Boys: second in giant slalom, third in slalom and fifth in boardercross
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Jesse Kunkowski, Breaker Boys: fourth in boardercross
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Maggie Leon, Youth Women: third in slopestyle
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Abby Lancour, Youth Women: third in halfpipe
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Kamran Gossieaux, Junior Men: third in the giant slalom, fourth in slalom, seventh in boardercross
Guiding all of these athletes was KMS Snowboard Program Director KC Gandee, who was named Southern Vermont Series Coach of the Year. Over the course of the season, the snowboard team had a whopping 32 podiums and a total of 49 top-10 finishes in the series. Athletes will be looking to add to those totals as they compete in USASA National Championships at Colorado’s Copper Mountain between March 31 and April 6.
The Hole Shot Tour came to Killington this past week, with racing on Wednesday and Thursday. With three stops during the 2012 season, the Hole Shot Tour is designed to bridge the gap between the Revolution Tour and World Cup events; many of the racers in last week's event had multiple FIS starts under their belts, including a number of top-30 World Cup results and one World Cup podium earlier this year. The two race days were preceded by training on Tuesday, when firm snow, fast rollers and uneven berm surfaces made for conditions that challenged riders' nerves as well as their technical skills. Temperatures warmed under strong March sunshine on Wednesday, causing the track to slow throughout the day as it softened.
After 11-year-old KSC/KMS skier Mazie Hayden opened the course as the day's lone forerunner, skiers took their single qualification run. Taylor Doxsee '11 finished ninth, narrowly missing the eight-skier finals.
In snowboarder time trials, BOOST student-athlete Sophie Anderson took the 15th spot into finals, while Logan Farmer and Matt St. Denis ended the day in 50th and 51st. After a rough start in her first head-to-head heat, Sophie passed one of the other riders to take third in the heat and end her first-ever FIS boardercross in 12th place.
Warm weather continued on Thursday, and the team came out ready to improve on the previous day's finishes. Taylor did just that by taking seventh in the skier time trials and earning a berth in finals, and Sophie also picked up the pace, riding to 14th and again qualifying for women's snowboard finals. She went on to work her way ahead of the second-place rider in her heat before crashing and ending the day in 11th. Logan had a slower-than-expected first run and went all out in the second run, riding at a pace that Coach KC Gandee said would have placed him in the finals, until he was interrupted by a crash. Despite that setback, Logan still finished one position better than the previous day.
"Considering the field, we are VERY proud of our racers and excited to see them improve their results next time," said KC.
BOOST teacher Heather House also joined the fray, riding her way into 27th place on Thursday after having trouble putting together a clean top-to-bottom run on Wednesday.
With slopestyle and halfpipe events at Mt. Snow to conclude the Southern Vermont Series, KMS and KSC/KMS skiers collected 14 top-20 finishes to wrap up regular-season competition. Eric Unterberger took second and Ari Schneider third in open skier slopestyle competition, while Jack Sylvester won the class and led four skiers in the top 20 of the skier 13-15 group; he was joined by Tec Calcagni (5), Sam Gnoza (13) and Josh Edward Tarricone (19). Max Tarricone took seventh in his class, while Tin Skoric (5) and Christopher Oko (6) made the top 10 in theirs; Ryan Sihler (9) and Joey Leon (13) represented the team in Breaker Boys. In Sunday's halfpipe competition, Max Tarricone took third in the 10-12 age group, while John Edward Tarricone and Sam Gnoza went 2-3 in the 13-15 age group.
With the Southern Vermont Series boardercross season at an end, the team travelled to New Hampshire's Ragged Mountain. Logan Farmer won his class in both of the day's races, while Ethan Farmer was first in the morning's race but fell to fifth in the afternoon. Mazie Hayden was second in both races while Jesse Kunkowski had fourth-place and fifth-place finishes; Kamran Gossieaux stepped up from the morning's fourth-place finish to take second in the afternoon's race.
The snowboard team took another handful of USASA podiums this past weekend, beginning with a USASA boardercross race at Maine's Sunday River resort. BOOST student-athlete Sophie Anderson took first in her age group while Ethan Farmer took second in his and Logan Farmer just missed the podium to take fourth in a competitive Youth Men field.
Traveling to Bromley for another pair of races the following day, the snowboard team was met with two inches of fresh snow, bright sun and warm temperatures.
"Logan Farmer, Ethan Farmer and Kamran Gossieaux showed up to prove they've been training and that hard work shows off, and that's what they did," said snowboard program director KC Gandee.
Logan took first in his group and second overall in the morning's giant slalom race. Ethan took first and Kamran Gossieaux fourth in their respective groups. In the afternoon's race, Ethan again took first in his group, while Logan took second in his age group and third overall for the men. Kamran stepped up onto the podium, taking third in his group.
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Logan Farmer leaves the rest of the Youth Men field fighting for second place. |
Logan Farmer, Nikki Sardelli, and Mazie Hayden again topped their age classes in USASA Southern Vermont Series boardercross racing at Bromley Mountain. They will be looking to build on a successful regular season in USASA Nationals racing at Copper Mountain this April. Also landing on the podium was Graham Campson, who scored a third-place finish on Saturday. Rounding out the top six were Karman Gossieaux (fourth on Saturday and sixth on Sunday), Ethan Farmer (fifth both days) and Chris Oko (fifth on Sunday).
KMS and KSC/KMS skiers and snowboarders were busy with slopestyle and big air competitions this weekend, as the Gatorade Free Flow Tour and USSA EQS competitions both came to the Killington area. On Saturday, Okemo hosted the Gatorade Freeflow Tour slopestyle competition, where the snowboard team took two of the three women’s podium spots; Sophie Anderson took second while Maggie Leon—the youngest female competitor in the event—took third. In the men’s skiing competition, Devon Savino took a 13th-place finish ahead of Jack Sylvester (28), Eric Unterberger (29), and Tec Calcagni (32).
On Sunday, competition moved to Killington’s superpipe, where Maggie Leon took first, Abby Lancour took second and Sophie Anderson took third to sweep the women’s snowboard podium. On the skiing side, Ari Schneider stepped up to take his first Free Flow podium with a third-place finish. The younger KMS and KSC/KMS athletes put in their own podium sweeps, as George McKeever, Ryan Sihler, and Joey Leon swept the snowboard grom podium. In the junior railjam, it was another podium sweep; Joey won ahead of George in second and Jake Fournier took third. In the junior skier division, Josh Tarricone took second in the railjam and then won the junior jam halfpipe competition.
Also at Killington this weekend were the Killington B Klassic freeskiing events, held in conjunction with Saturday’s mogul competition. In slopestyle competition, BOOST student-athlete Chloe Pultar landed in seventh to take the top KSC/KMS finish of the day; she was joined in the girls’ top 15 by Julianna Cavallo (9), Cassie Cavallo (10), Olivia Giaccio (11), Montana Osinski (13) and Ally Grobman (14). On the boys’ side, Ben Mason (13) led seven KSC/KMS skiers in the top 30; he was joined by Scottie Candee (16), Matthew Labaugh (22), Max Tarricone (23), Carter Gordon (26), Carson P. Mendoza (27) and Conan Green (28). In the big air competition, Julianna Cavallo took seventh, Montana Osinski ninth, and Ally Grobman for the girls; Colin Campbell took tenth to lead Conan Green (22), Jack Petrone (23), Trae Damone (25), Matthew Labaugh (26), Dylan Damore (27), Daclotta Stewart (28), Tyler Damore (29) and Marcus Cavallo (30) into the top 30.
The freeride competition extends beyond the slopes this week, as Devon Savino is one of many freeskiers throughout the country competing in the Gatorade Free Flow Tour Virtual Stop contest. View his video entry on newschoolers.com (and feel free to cast a vote).
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| Nikki Sardelli leads the pack in boardercross finals at Bromley. |
With snow, rain and a precipitous drop in temperature leading into the weekend, Saturday-morning conditions at Bromley were solid enough to delay the start of boardercross and skiercross competitions by almost two hours. Logan Farmer wasn’t deterred by the surface or the delay, as he put down the third-fastest time in the morning’s trials; KSC/KMS rider Jesse Kunkowski also put down a quick qualifying time with the second-fastest run in his class.
The weather changed as head-to-head heats progressed, as Bromley lived up to its reputation as a sunny mountain and the course softened—and slowed—to provide plenty of hard-fought battles. Will Steller was neck-and-neck with two other racers heading into the second turn and ran out of real estate, while Ethan Farmer had a rough pull out of the start and missed finals; they ended up 11th and fifth on the day, respectively. Jesse Kunkowski won his first two heats but then crashed in turn one of the final heat to end up in fourth, while Nikki Sardelli overcame a fall in time trials to win her semi-final heat and then grab the finals hole shot to take the win for Breaker Girls. Logan Farmer also rode his way to a class victory, as did 11-year-old skier Mazie Hayden.
Sunday’s race began as scheduled with partly sunny and colder temperatures. Mazie lined up against and beat a pair of 15-year-old racers, taking not only a class win but also the second-fasted time of any female skier. Logan put down the third-fastest time in the overall scoring to take a class win, while Nikki again battled back from a time-trials fall to win her age group, giving her six wins in as many Southern Vermont Series starts.
With "great starts" according to Coach KC Gandee, Ethan was able to advance to finals and take fourth, while Tin Skoric was able to avoid a collision in his heat to advance to finals and take fourth in his class. Chris Oko took sixth, while Alex Sheppard rode to a fifth-place finish.
The USASA Southern Vermont series traveled to Mt. Snow this past weekend, where KMS and KSC/KMS skiers and snowboarders competed in Saturday's slopestyle and Sunday's halfpipe competition. The skiers packed the top 15 in the 13-15 age group as Jack Sylvester took the win ahead of Tec Calcagni (5), Sam Gnoza (7), Josh Tarricone (14). In the 10-12-year-old bracket, Chloe Pultar took second for the girls while Max Tarricone took ninth and Finn Pryor 12th for the boys, and Charlie Gnoza took second in the nine-and-under category. On the snowboard side, BOOST student-athlete Sophie Anderson took third and Maggie Leon fourth in their category, while Ethan Farmer took eighth in his. In halfpipe competition, Charlie again took second, while Tec stepped up to second in the 13-15 age bracket, and Sophie took fourth place for a third top-five result.
Meanwhile, in the USSA-sanctioned Vermont Open competition at Okemo, Eric Unterburger took 16th and Ari Schneider 30th in the first of two slopestyle competitions. In the second competition, Eric stepped up to take ninth place, while Jack Sylvester took 29th and Ari just missed the top 30 with his 31st-place finish.
The snowboard team had gone further north to race in a pair of boardercross events at Smuggler's Notch. Part of the USASA Northern Vermont Series, they gave Nikki Sardelli, Logan Farmer, and Ethan Farmer a chance to not only get a few more runs in a boardercross course but also to collect another half-dozen podiums. Logan took the win in the first race, while Nikki took second and Ethan third in their categories. In the afternoon race, Nikki again took second while Logan and Ethan each grabbed a third-place finish to wrap up six medals in six race starts for the KMS snowboarding team.
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