Inside Edge: Local racers shine at Emerald Empire Youth Ski League Finals

Emerald Empire Youth Ski League Finals — Lookout Pass hosted nearly 200 young racers for the final events of the season this weekend. SARS and Independence racers were both represented in the giant slalom competition. Below are the local results (top 15 only).

Jeru Gidley continued his season-long dominance in the boys U12 division, capturing a gold and silver. Dakota Landwehr also had a big weekend, finishing third and fourth. In the same division, Wyatt Lemon secured 10th and 13th place finishes, while Landon Buoy finished 14th in the first race.

In the U10 division, Rhys Taylor took two silvers and Logan Johnston grabbed two bronze medals. Solen Landwehr had a solid weekend, finishing fifth and sixth. Kee Paxton was 15th in the first race, but stepped it up to ninth in the second race.

In the U8 division, Brig Ambauen was disqualified in his first run, but took gold in his second. Rory Johnston was fifth in both races.

On the girls side, Halle Wyman in 11th and Sophia Taylor in 14th were the only two to crack the top 15 in U12. Elaina Stiller captured a pair of bronze medals in U10. Libby Welker skied well posting results of fifth and eighth, and Tekla Lien finished sixth and 11th in the two races. Elsa Gidley earned two silver medals in the U8 division. Other competitors were Zayda Ambauen and Faith Stephany.

Shiffrin ends season with another silver — Mikaela Shiffrin ended this strange season with a silver medal in giant slalom. Nina O’Brien was 12th. Shiffrin also medaled in slalom earlier in the week and finished the season ranked second in both events. A career year for most, an off year for her.

Potpourri — Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by email at shep@thesnowschool.com. Negative feedback should be sent to someone else.