Inside Edge: Locals place high in league opener
(Photo courtesy of JORDAN CARLSON) Logan Johnston carves his way downhill in Inland Empire League Youth Ski League action on Jan. 12.
The Shiffrin Show rolls on
A rejuvenated Mikaela Shiffrin dominated the Giant Slalom at Kronplatz, Italy for her 53rd career victory. She went out to an early 1.42 second lead the first run and never looked back. Nina O’Brien, who earned her first World Cup points at the slalom in Killington earlier this year, skied to 26th place, showing she’s here to stay. Shiffrin now leads the standings in Super G, Giant Slalom, Slalom plus the overall.
Emerald Empire League
The Schweitzer Alpine Racing School (SARS) hosted the season opener for the 12-years-old and under crowd this weekend with two Giant Slalom races run down Loophole.
A number of local athletes competed. Local finishers in the top 15 included Halle Wyman, who placed 6th and 11th in the U10 Girls division over the two-day event.
On the boys side, Rys Taylor swept the U8 Division with two wins. Logan Johnston placed fifth and fourth. Jeru Gidley nabbed first and second in the hotly contested U10 division, followed by Alexander Hopkins with a third place Sunday and Dakota Landwehr finishing fifth and fourth on the series.
Cadin Billstin had a good start by finishing fourth in U12 Saturday, but didn’t finish on Sunday.
Brig Ambauen, Zayda Ambauen, Charles Corbridge, Sif Gadson, Jordyn Lemon, Wyatt Lemon, Grace Meekings, James Schriber, Royce Sharp, Faith Stephany, Elaine Stiller, Hannah Stiller, Henry Sturgis and Sophia Taylor also participated. These athletes will next meet for Super G and Giant Slalom at 49 Degrees North in a couple of weeks.
Junior Race Series, Week #2
Mother Nature gave us a second successful week of racing and the trends are starting to surface. We’ll report the team standings next week.
The fastest boys were: Cadin Billstin (21.25), Fletcher Barrett (21.48) and Austin Billstin (22.02).
The top three girls were Josie Buoy (22.49), Angelina Knepper (23.33) and Sydnie Knepper (23.53). Racing resumes this Friday at 5:30 p.m.
Northern Lights at Schweitzer
‘Tis the season for the Winter Carnival. Check the Schweitzer website for times and details.
Winter Trails Day
Free access to the Nordic Trails will be offered at Schweitzer on Jan. 20. Contact the Activity Center at (208) 255-3081.
Potpourri
Local racers head to the first of three U14 qualifiers at Mt. Spokane this weekend. Watch here for a full report in next week’s issue.