The Inside Edge - Rut Monsters win title race series

n Olympic team named — The women’s US Alpine Team consists of: Stacy Cook, Breezy Johnson, Megan McJames, Alice MvKennis, Laurenne Ross, Mikaela Shiffrin, Resi Steigler, Lindsey Vonn, and Jacqueline Wiles. The mens’ squad is Bryce Bennett, Tommy Biesemeyer, David Chodounsky, Ryan Cochran-Seigle, Mark Engel, Tommy Ford, Jared Goldberg, Tim Jityloff, Nolan Kasper, Ted Ligety, Wiley Maple, Steve Nyman and Andrew Weibrecht. We’ll be rooting for them next week.

n Pre Olympic WC Wrap-up — Ted Ligety posted his first podium finish since 2015 in a Giant Slalom at Garmish-Partenkirchen, Germany. Tim Jitloff and Tommy Ford were also in the top 30. Mikaela Shiffrin finished 7th in Slalom at Lenzerheide, Switzerland, increasing her lead in the overall standings. Bryce Bennett was the top downhill finisher at Garmish, posting a 16th place in his run to the Olympics. He’ll be a guy to watch there, since experience on the track will not be a factor helping the veterans.

n Junior Race Series results — Powder prevented setting a course for the final night of competition. However, an evening of powder turns followed by all the ice cream you can eat isn’t too bad. There was lots of excitement at the awards ceremony, where the following winners were announced: Most Improved Girl — Fiona MacDonald, Runner-up Most Improved Girl — Marlee McCrum, Most Improved Boy — Austin Billstin, Runner-up Most Improved Boy — Landon Buoy, Fastest Girl — Sydnie Knepper, Runner-up Most Improved Girl — Angelina Knepper, Fastest Boy — Klein Fragoso, Runner-up Fastest Boy — Caden Billstin. The winning team was the Rut Monsters, listed in the caption of their photo.

n Emerald Empire — Mount Spokane hosted the first Emerald Empire races of the year under challenging snow and visibility conditions. A number of local athletes competed. The top local performer was clearly Quincy Evans, who posted finished of 4th in Giant Slalom and 2d in Slalom. Branson Whitby finished 14th in Slalom and 10th in Giant Slalom. Wesley Simko also had a good weekend with finishes of 17th in Giant slalom and 15th in Slalom. Slate Fragoso posted 14th in Giant Slalom, but hiked on both Slalom days. Avery Edmndson finished 30th in Giant Slalom, then bounced back for 16 in her first “points” Slalom race. Sister Erika, Skied to 32nd and 33nd in Giant Slalom and Slalom. Laura Boge placed 20th in Giant Slalom and 36th in Slalom. These athletes will next compete at Mount Hood in mid-February.

n Starlight “Spy Games” begin — The Starlight race series starts this week with the theme being Spy Games and 007. Can’t wait to hear this years’ team names. Teams must have at least one female member, and will be handicapped for age, gender, and mode of travel (Alpine, Telemark, Snowboard or Butt). Contact the Activity Center for details and get that team together.

n Western Region Speed Series — The series started Tuesday with a cancellation do to a suspect race surface. The crews worked all night and downhill training runs commenced Wednesday. This race is a huge undertaking and SARS is still welcoming volunteers. Call SARS at 946-7859 to volunteer. We’ll have a full report next week.

n Potpourri — Watch here next week for Olympic Team announcements and FIS Speed results.

Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by e-mail at shep@thesnowschool.com.

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