By Luke Kirchmayr EBS Contributor
Alpine Update:
The Big Sky alpine ski team had another busy race week. The U16 and U19 team travelled to Missoula over the President’s Day weekend, with the girls team competing in 3 slaloms while the boys had 4 slaloms—one being a makeup race from a cancelled Red Lodge competition. The Big Sky ski team won the overall weekend with many individual wins and plenty of medals. The conditions were difficult with soft snow which is not ideal for slalom events. Older racers tend to prefer hard and icy conditions.
The U8 and U12 teams went to the Great Divide Ski Area for two slalom races Feb. 23-24, and BSSEF boys and girls won most of the races and secured many podium spots. Sunday was frigid and there was only one slalom run to keep the athletes from freezing. The Great Divide competition is always a fun race, and luckily for the parents, spectators are able to watch from the comfort of the lodge.
While the younger racers battled the cold at the Great Divide Ski Area, Maci St. Cyr travelled to Park City, Colorado to compete in a national FIS race. St. Cyr did exceptionally well by placing in the middle of the pack while competing against some of the best talent in the nation.
Congratulations are in order to Maci St. Cyr, Madison Winters, Mackenzie Winters, Mazie Schreiner and Sam Johnson for qualifying for the Western Region FIS Junior Championship in Alpine Meadows, California, March 11-17.
Nordic update:
The BSSEF Nordic team skied to podium finishes in the Bridger Biathlon Club race Feb. 23-24. Lucy Stratford placed 1st in women’s novice U13 division and hit 6 out of 10 targets. Jonah Adams placed 2nd in the novice U13 division, hitting 7 out of 10 targets, and Tobin Ide placed 3rd by firing off 2 clean rounds where he hit all 10 targets. It’s tradition in biathlon to receive chocolate for a shooting a clean round.
The team has been training hard for the biggest race in the region on March 2 in West Yellowstone. The 40th anniversary of Yellowstone Rendezvous will likely have more than 600 competitors racing on Saturday. There will be elite racers from around the country and world skating for top honors in the 50 km, along with competitors in divisions with distances of 25 km, 10 km, 5 km, and 2 km. Look for BSSEF racers to finish in top positions in the 5 km division.
For more information, visit: www.bssef.com.
