Nordic school team race before States
By Susan Morning
On Friday, Feb. 14, Mammoth Middle School and Mammoth High School Nordic Teams competed in the CNISSF North Tahoe Pursuit. In the High School Girls class, of 40 competitors Amanda Kirkeby raced to fourth place with a time of 21:23.2, while Connor Kusumoto was 10; Carson Bold 19; Jack Roten 21; and Jacob Mahler 29 in the High School Boys division.
Three Mammoth students, Meaghan Thompson, Alexia Craven and Sophia McKee, placed eighth, ninth, and 12th respectively in the Middle School Girls race. Jared Mahler, Liam Bassler, Finnly Bourne, Cardiff Smith, Dominic Manzano, Tanner Bissonett and Barrett Manneter represented Mammoth in the Middle School Boys division, with two athletes breaking in to the top 15 out of the 68 competitors in the class. Bassler finished 14th and Jared Mahler came in with a very strong sixth place result. On Feb. 22 Mammoth athletes will compete in the ASC CNISSF State Championships.
Local Skiers Compete in Wyoming
Eight local Alpine skiers, Kayleigh MacGregor, Nikita Norton, Erin Maidman, Alexa Wehsener, Alex Colby, Logan DeAngelis, Casey Haveruk and Lucas Underkoffler, recently returned from Wyoming after competing in the FIS Elite Wild West Classic at Snow King Mountain, Feb 15-18.
The race series was scheduled for two giant slalom races and two slalom races for both men and women, however the men’s GS on Feb. 16 was cancelled due to weather.
Both Norton and MacGregor produced some noteworthy results, with Colby coming in 14th for the U18 men in the final slalom; MacGregor taking 15th for the U18 ladies in the first GS; and Norton placing 5th for the U18 ladies in the first slalom.
Kittredge Tune Up
Sunday, Feb. 16 started out with high winds and a heavy cloud layer sitting over the top of Mammoth Mountain. But just after a handful of junior racers pushed out of the starting gate, the wind settled and the clouds lifted, revealing a perfect bluebird day for the second Junior Village Championship race of the 2014 season.
The race , dubbed the Kittredge Tune Up, saw over 100 U10-14 Mammoth Mountain Junior Ski Team members battle it out in a dual race format for individual and team results.
In the U14 Boys, Cole Williams captured first with a blazing time of 22.37, which also ended up being the fastest time of the day; Sheldon French followed in second with a time of 22.95; and showing how close the competition was, Connor Staley crossed the finish line just .01 behind French to take third.
In the U14 Girls, Eva Yguico, Mack Carkeet and Kendall Lach all finished within .41 of each other.
In the U12 class, Lance Davenport, Daniel Schneider and Aidan LeFrancois went one, two three for the boys and Anastasia Seator Braun, Siena Szeto and Vivienne McGlashan for the girls.
Bjorn Karlen, Parker Gumins and Quentin LeFrancois were the top three U10 Boys, while Chaney Szeto, Byrn Urdi and Sara Mueller took the top three podium spots for the U10 Girls.
