DEVO info 3/6 – 3/7
Hello All,
Ok so I had some time to sit down and put my literary skills to work and get you up to speed on race re-caps. I am still awaiting info from Middlebury on this weekend’s race so the actual weekly update email will come once I have that….Reminder: Okemo 1 is going to Middlebury this Sunday. Okemo 2 will train at home.
And now for a long overdue OKEMO GS RACE RE-CAP!
Well, for starters don’t let the amount of time that I let pass between this race and my re-cap be an indication of anything except for the fact that I am insanely busy…between The Valentine Victory Camp, President’s Week training, a HUGE snowstorm, organizing a slalom camp that unfortunately had to be canceled, Devo jackets, regular training and more races, countless emails, and oh yeah my “real job” teaching (wait then there’s Northern and caring for OMS students during the week)…whew! In any case, I mention all of this just because I want you all to know that the race we hosted at Okemo was undoubtedly one of the highlights of my years coaching! The race went off without a hitch, despite some behind the scenes challenges, and our kids performed ABOVE and BEYOND expectations! I was so incredibly proud of their performances that day, I was beaming from ear-to-ear for a week!
So here we go….Starting it out with my small, but fierce little J6 chicks!
J6 Girls: Mackenzie Laurion rocked the hill with a smokin’ time of 50.68, which not only won J6 girl’s gold for her, but was also the fastest girls time overall by over a second. In fact, only 3 boys beat her time! Way to go Mackenzie! Then we had a great J6 sweep of third through seventh, by Frances Whyte, Abby Crowley, Saige Anapolle, Emma Laurion, and Samantha Burton, respectively. Of particular note are the fact that both Abby and Samantha totally blew away their first runs times with much faster second run times to earn their excellent rankings and that this was Emma Laurion’s first DEVO race ever! Emma Chute took home a ninth place medal and, in her first DEVO race, Michaela King finished just out of the medals in 12th.
J6 Boys: We only have two J6 boys this year, but boy have they been putting up a good fight! Nick Ambeliotis was the fastest J6 boy in the first run, but was beaten by one boy in the second run, and took home the silver medal. Jay Schoudel had a great race finishing in seventh in a very competitive field of J6 boys.
J5 Girls:Sofia Gerrad led the charge for our J5 girls – she threw down an awesome first run that earned her the GOLD medal! Her first ever in DEVOs – way to go Sofia!! Coco Schaaf was right on her heels in second place and the two girls were over a second ahead of the third place J5 girl. Nice work ladies! In 6th was Anna Moscovici and in 7th Eliza Scher, who has been steadily working her way up the podium each race! In 9th we had Paola Loy and in 10th Dolores White. Just out of the medals in 11th was Katie Ashman who came back from a fall in the first run to throw down a great second run! Also finishing top 20 were Sarah Bonnet (14th), Clara Everett (15th), and Lydia Hill (17th). Way to go girls!
J5 Boys: The J5 boys category was lead by Connor Laurion who threw down the fastest time of the day with a super 49.72! We then proceeded to sweep the podium with the following boys in 2nd through 10th, respectively, Connor Marschke, Carver Provance (who came back from a shaky first run to kill it in the second run!), Sam Cowles, Danny King, Kyle Burton, Luke Cuticelli, Ben Schwinn, Ricky Myers, and Owen Skinner (in his first DEVO race ever!). Just out of the medals were Andrew Gil in 11th and Max Glickman in 12th. Also in the top 20 were Nicholas Killian (14th), Kyle Stuart (16th) and Luke Valentine (17th). Way to go boys!
J4 Girls: The J4 girls almost completed a podium sweep with the exception of the bronze medal! Ingrid Backe led the charge with a great first run and won gold! Lindsey Tretter snagged the silver medal. In 4th was Jane Wiesenberg, followed by Natalie Schanzer (5th), Taylor Ludl (6th), and Gwen Jaye (7th). In 8th was Kristina Bonnet who came back from a big fall first run to have a great second run and secure a medal. In 9th was Deanna Bottomley and in 10th was Emily Faller. Also finishing top 15 were Peggy Shemtiz-Wagner (12th), Samantha Danziger (14th), and Brittany Fitpatrick (15th). Excellent job girls!
J4 Boys: Well the J4 boys didn’t have much outside competition, BUT they didn’t let the one Quechee J4 boy even get in the mix – these 13 guys totally swept the first 13 spots. No among themselves they were sure to put on a show. Alex Milewski led the efforts coming out on a VERY cold day with a VERY bad cold to throw down a great first (and only) run to win gold and have the second fastest time of the day! He was closely followed by Jackson Lovejoy who took silver and Ray Albanese who took bronze. In 3rd -13th we had Sean Sullivan, Jack Marschke, Joseph Werthan, Robbie Reilly, Garrett Sherman, Simon Ludl, Connor Hanlon, Jonah Glickman, Grant Anapolle, and Thomas Whalen, respectively. Great job guys!
AND then it was on to some intense stubby slalom training for the next couple of weeks….and boy was I nervous when we started, but WOW did the kids catch on quick. Within a few days over President’s week all of teh kids really started to ski well in the stubbies and we started to see some “slalom specialists” begin to emerge!
So now….drumroll please…the Quechee Stubby Slalom re-cap!!!
Well let’s start by saying that the Quechee Stubby Slalom wound up being the only race in Mid-VT to run last Saturday – the welcome, but unexpected, snowstorm of last week posed some challenges to other race venues, but with some hard work we were able to make it happen! Now again, I was super impressed to see how well the kids skied this new event! Some new faces appeared higher up the podium and it was great to see them shine!
J6 Girls: Mackenzie Laurion once again topped the podium, but this time in slalom, showing us that she has some great versatility – great job Mack! Emma Chute rocketed up in the standings in this new event to snag the silver medal – with a great second run – one of the only racers to improve over their first run! Abby Crowley took bronze and Frances Whyte was in 4th. In 7th was Samantha Burton and in 8th Emma Laurion. Nice work girls!
J6 Boys: Nick Ambeliotis was our only J6 boy for the day and he did a great job finishing 5th for the day!
J5 Girls:Definitely some stiff competition in this crowd, but Coco Schaaf led our bunch by snagging another silver medal for herself showing consistency across disciplines. Ellie Ashman had an awesome first run to finish in third and take home the bronze – I believe her best finish all year! Then the girls showed off their talent for sweeps with a sweep of 5th through tenth by Dolores White, Anna Moscovici, Sofia Gerrard, Paola Loy, Lydia Hill and Sarah Bonnet, respectively. Congratulations Lydia and Sarah on really moving up in the standings! Just out of the medals were Paige Ludl (12th), Katie Ashman (13th), and Caroline Grace (15th). Nice work girls!
J5 Boys:Wow, now this is where the action was this race! Connor Laurion absolutely threw down the run of the day with a 33.07, which was nine tenths faster than the next fastest racer, earning him a gold medal. Connor Marschke took home silver with a run that was absolutely thrilling to watch. Luke Valentine, who has totally found his event with slalom, skied a very clean run to take bronze. Showing great consistency between GS and SL, Luke Cuticelli had a great run and took home 5th. In 7th was Spencer Tretter and in 8th Kyle Burton. In 9th was Andrew “Ligety” Gil, who has totally been shredding slalom in training. I was standing on the side of the course as he came down SHREDDING first run only to end in a pile in front of me! But man was he having a good run! He was still able to come back with a strong second run despite the deteriorating conditions. Sam Cowles, who also has been skiing slalom really well, rounded out the medals in 10th. Also finishing in the top 20 were Ricky Myers (13th), Kyle Stuart (15th), Jack Lorenze (16th – and with definite promise in slalom), Nicholas Killian (17th), Ben Schwinn (18th) and Max Glickman (19th).
J4 Girls: Another budding slalom skier, Kristina Bonnet, led our J4 girls taking home a silver medal. Just behind her with the bronze was Lindsay Tretter. In 4th we had Gwen Jaye and in 5th Ingrid Backe. In 7th – 9th, we had Taylor Ludl, Emily Faller, and Brittany Fitzpatrick. Just out of the medals were Jane Wiesenberg (11th), Peggy Shemtiz Wagner (12th), Emily Mineau (13th), and Samantha Danziger (16th). Nice work ladies!
J4 Boys: Chase Jaye definitely has been showing great potential in slalom training and certainly performed in the race – he won gold for J4 boys by almost 2 seconds! He was followed by Ray Albanese who took silver and Jack Marschke (another one who really made moves in slalom) took bronze! In 4th was Jackson Lovejoy. Sean Sullivan came back from a crash in first run to snag 5th despite the fact that most were posting significantly slower times second run. In 6th was Simon Ludl and 7th Garrett Sherman. In 9th was Robbie Reilly and rounding out the medals in tenth was Jonah Glickman. Just out of the medals in 11th was Connor Hanlon. Nice work boys!
Ok well look for the weekend’s info soon!
thanks,
Mariel