The Inside Edge - locals compete at Evergreen Cup

n She’s Back! — Lindsey Vonn is back after missing much of the season with a broken arm. This week she won the Downhill at Garmish-Partenkirchen and placed 9th in Super G. This was her 77th World Cup victory, and every time she wins it’s a new record. Laurenne Ross was 15th in the Super G. Mikela Shiffrin returns to action this week in Giant Slalom — we’ll report next week.

On the men’s side, Steve Nyman placed 10th in Downhill on the formidable Hahnenkamm track at Kitzbuhel, Austria. He was followed by Andrew Wiebrect in 19th.

n Evergreen Cup — 49 Degrees North hosted a USSA scored event last weekend, giving many U14s there first shot at speed points. Both SARS and Independence sent athletes. The track was on the challenging and varied terrain of the Snow King slope.

Addison McNamara led all local racers with finishes of 2nd overall/2nd U16, and 4th overall/2nd U16 in the two Super G’s. He was 5th in both categories for the Giant Slalom. Baden Brenner finished 11th overall/10th U16 and 11th overall/9th U16 in the two Super Gs and 19th overall/15th U16 in Giant Slalom. Slate Fragoso was 23rd overall/7th U14 and 29th overall/9th U14 in Super G. He was 25th overall/8th U14 in Giant Slalom. Wesley Simko was 25th overall/8th U14 and 28th overall/8th U14 in Super G. He was 28thoverall/1th U14 in Giant Slalom.

On the girls side, Morgan Wohlaib was the top local finishers, with results of 6th overall/4th U16 and 3rd overall/2nd U16 in Super G. Interestingly, she chose (forgot?) to ski with unbuckled boots the second run in Giant Slalom, yielding results of 7th overall and 4th U16. Not bad, but really, try the buckles next time. Gracyn House finished 7th overall/3rd U14 and 6th overall/3rd U14 in Super G. She was 8th overall and 3rd U14 in Giant Slalom. Quincy Evans was 11th overall/5th U14 in the first Super G, but didn’t finish the second. She was 13th overall and 5th U14 in Giant Slalom. Catherine Brenner, a returning to racing after a three season hiatus, posted results of 17th, 18th and 26th.

n Junior Race Series heats up — Competition continued on a beautiful evening last Friday, with the kids getting faster and faster. Three teams are closely knotted up for the Most Improved status. Charlie Lane, Royce Sharp, Calvin Schmidt and Bode Demmons are all within range of Most Improved Boy. Five girls are battling for Most Improved Girl, they are: Bella Baker, Truman Baker, Sara Hogue, Fiona MacDonald and Marlee McCrum. With one week of competition left, the kids’ll be pulling all the stops.

The fastest girls were: Erika Edmundson – 23.66; Avery Edmundson – 24.49; Angelina Knepper – 26.17; Sydnie Knepper – 26.92; and Berkeley Cox – 26.95. The fastest boys were: Klein Fragoso – 21.72; Caden Billston – 23.54; Christopher Swinder – 23.69; Crosby Schmidt – 24.44; and Connor McClure – 25.03.

Racing resumes at 5:30 p.m. this Friday, followed by the famous ice cream feast and awards party. Bring your appetite.

n The Ski Racing Meritocracy — This is the first of a two-part series designed to clarify what is happening in USSA scoring circles, and of course to express the views of The Edge on the matter. The following is derived from a segment presented here in the past. This tutorial explains the US and international points ranking systems, although last year USSA added a twist, which will be discussed next week in part 2. Non- ski coaches will find this interesting as well, since this is the fairest ranking system The Edge has seen in any sport.

Youth Ski League racers (14 and under) race in their region, searching largely for individual medals. There are no national “standings” per se, and even if there were, those standings would offer little benefit. However, once a racer begins “scored” racing it’s all about standings and points. Medals mean little unless they’re earned at a major championship. There are two very similar point systems, one for USSA (US athletes) and one for FIS (international athletes). US athletes are ranked exclusively in the USSA points list at age 12 to 15. From 16 through adulthood, our athletes are rated on both lists.

So why are points important? Many races are over solicited, so the entries are screened based upon points standings (lower points are better). Also, the start order is based upon points, with the lower point athletes starting sooner. Obviously, the sooner one starts, the better the course conditions, and the greater the likelihood of success.

How are points earned? Points are earned using an intricate formula that computes the existing points of the fastest ten entrants and the existing points of the fastest 10 finishers, yielding what is called a point penalty. Once the penalty for the race is computed, each finisher receives the penalty plus race points based upon the percent behind he or she finishes — the larger the margin, the more race points assigned.

For instance, if the penalty for a race was 30 points and I won that race, I would leave with a point result of 30. Let’s say you finished in 9th place, 1.2 seconds behind me, you might get penalty points of 30 plus race points of 11 for a 41 point result. Our results are then entered in the database and averaged with our previous best points finish for the type of event. So, if I earned a 30 today and my previous best was a 38, my new points profile would become 34. A racer must establish an initial points profile by successfully completing two races in each technical event (one in each speed event). Once the profile is established, subsequent results are averaged with the best existing result, yielding an improved (lower) profile for that event.

So far so good, but why aren’t medals important? Because if a racer seeks races with weak fields and wins every race his or her points would never improve. Instead, racers seek events where the competition is better than they are. That way the point penalty is lower than their own profile, and if they ski well they can lower their profile. Every racer starts his career with a 990 point profile. Racers on the US Ski Team have points in the 20’s or below. Racers on the World Cup have points in the teens or single digits. It’s a long road to the top, but it is eminently fair.

Coincidentally, this system sounds a lot like life . . . work hard, do your due diligence, put in the groundwork, make a plan and show up on time at the workplace and focus through the entire day. That’s the road to success in life and is why The Edge supports ski racing as a great way for kids to learn about life.

n “Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.” John Wayne — These girls don’t hold obscene placards or march for equality. Instead they click in without complaining and throw it down the same courses as the boys. Why is that special? Because boys are too stupid to be scared so it doesn’t take any courage. Now girls, they think and scheme and plot, and weigh alternatives and still have to go down the course. That takes courage.

I remember the Junior Olympics at Snowbird, UT in 2005. The Super G was off the cat track into Mineral Bowl. The slope had melted and refrozen that week, and the morning of the race there was 4 inches of soft powder on the ice. The first girl to drop in for inspection lost her edge and fell the entire first pitch, blowing her ACL. All of the other girls had to slip by her to inspect, as she was being loaded into the toboggan.

The start line was a scene to behold. Some girls were crying — my racer was mortified. However, as their numbers were called they all stepped up and pushed out of the gate. Impressive. You will often hear the Edge talking about the benefits of ski racing. I have found the most profound effect is upon young women. A young lady that has raced into her teens carries a certain air of confidence not found in other athletes.

n World Cup Boardercross — Nate Holland narrowly missed the podium with fourth in the Individual Boardercross on Saturday, then came back with partner Alex Diebold and took Bronze in the Team Boardercross. Holland is like the energizer bunny and keeps on going against competitors many years his junior.

n Western Region Speed Series starts tomorrow — The ultimate in viewing excitement. Watch the top rising 16-21 year-old talent in the West compete for honors and eligibility for the National Junior Championships. SARS needs plenty of help pulling this one off. Call SARS at 946-7859 to volunteer.

n Potpourri — Starlight racing for adults is just around the corner. Call Schweitzer to register your team. Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by e-mail at shep@thesnowschool.com.

The Inside Edge runs every Thursday during ski season in the Daily Bee.