Thank you for a great 2007 Western Region JIII Junior Olympics & J4 Festival at Mammoth Mountain Christianson, Berther win Combined titles
Mammoth Lakes, CA, March 25, 2007 - Alaska's Kieffer Christianson wrapped up a dominating effort at the 2007 Western Region JIII Junior Olympics at Mammoth Mountain by capturing the Men's Slalom today by more than two seconds. Having already won the J3 Giant Slalom and finished eighth in the Super G, Christianson easily added the Combined title to his medal haul. Joining Christianson with three overall medals and a gold medal in Combined was PNSA's Vanessa Berther. She finished second in Sunday's J3 Women's Giant Slalom, second in the opening Super G, and fourth in the Slalom. For their efforts, Christianson and Berther were selected to the USA's Whistler Cup team. They were joined by double gold medalist Rose Caston (Giant Slalom and Super G), Women's Slalom champion Katie Fitzpatrick, Men's Super G gold medalist Jake Perkins, and Men's Slalom and Super G silver medalist Bryce Bennett on the team that will represent the United States in the Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup, April 2-9 in Whistler-Blackcomb. Named to the J4 USA Whistler Cup team were Lena Andrews, Amanda Stelling, Ty Sprock and Max Hall. Now in its 15th year and run under the auspices of FIS, the Whistler Cup showcases the best juvenile ski racers from around the world. It is North America's only international juvenile ski race for girls and boys aged 11 to 14, with 12 races scheduled in Super G, Giant Slalom, Slalom and Kombi over the three-day period. Last year's Whistler Cup attracted close to 400 juvenile athletes representing 20 countries, including team champion Austria. We wish the U.S. team well at Whistler-Blackcomb. The Western Region JIII Junior Olympics and J4 Festival produced some striking racing, including Sunday's concluding Women's Giant Slalom. Run on hard, fast conditions over Mammoth's Cornice/Terry's course, the GS saw Intermountain's Caston race out to a big first-run lead over the field, then hold off Berther, who chopped off seven tenths of a second from Caston's lead but could not catch the early leader. Sunday's results left Far West as the leading J3 division with nine total medals. PNSA was second with six. In the accompanying J4 Festival, Andrews and Sprock, both of Far West, won the Combined titles. Andrews won a pair of J4 events - Super G and GS - and was second in the Slalom. Sprock won the J4 GS, was second in the Super G, and finished third in the Slalom. Their efforts helped Far West easily capture the Division medal race with 15 total medals, including seven of eight possible golds. Intermountain and Northern were second in the medal race with three total medals each. Christianson, Fitzpatrick win J3 titles
Mammoth Lakes, CA, March 24, 2007 - Kieffer Christianson used identical 51.51 second runs to win the Men's J3 Giant Slalom, while Katie Fitzpatrick powered to a convincing victory in the Women's J3 Slalom to highlight the third day of competition at the 2007 Western Region JIII Junior Olympics at Mammoth Mountain. The JO's conclude on Sunday with the Women's J3 and J4 Giant Slalom and the Men's J3 and J4 Slalom. On a warm, sunny day, Christianson and Fitzpatrick were joined as gold medalists by Ty Sprock, who edged Eric Haferman and Peter Papineau, Jr., in a tight J4 Men's GS, and Amanda Stelling, who was a decisive winner in the J4 Women's Slalom over J4 Women's Super G champion Lena Andrews. Christianson needed his identical runs to hold Hank Schuler, who added a silver medal in the J3 Men's GS to go with his bronze in the Super G. Fitzpatrick won by more than 2 seconds, as her first run timing of 39.46 seconds over Mammoth's Fascination course was easily the best of the day. Fitzpatrick's victory enabled Far West to take a one medal lead in a tight J3 division race that has Far West leading with four medals. Intermountain and PNSA are tied for second with three medals. In J4, Far West has a commanding lead with 7 medals, followed by Intermountain and Northern with 2 medals each. Festivities concluded Saturday with a banquet and awards presentation at Mammoth's Main Lodge. Perhaps the highlight of the awards was a special sportsmanship honor that went to Haley Merritt, who disqualified herself for a gate infraction after being passed into the second run by the judges. Perkins, Caston race to Super G victories Mammoth Lakes, CA, March 23, 2007 - Jake Perkins and Rose Caston raced to victories over a challenging Super G course at Mammoth Mountain today to capture the first gold medals in the 2007 Chevrolet Western Region JIII Junior Olympics. Joining the J3 champions were J4 Festival Super G winners Lena Andrews and Max Hall. The very best 12-14 year-old United States Ski Association racers, boy & girls, from the five Western divisions are competing in Mammoth this week. Competition continues Friday with the J4 and J3 Women racing two runs in the Slalom over Mammoth's Fascination course. The J4 and J3 Men, meanwhile, compete in two runs of the Giant Slalom on a Cornice Bowl/Fascination (Terry's finish) course with a 261 meter drop. Racing under sunny skies with varying winds, Perkins had an outstanding run through the middle of the Cornice/Fascination course. His time of 1:07.20 edged Far West teammate Bryce Bennett by a little more than three-quarters of a second. Intermountain's Caston, meanwhile, won by more than a second over silver medalist Vanessa Berther of PNSA. Thursday's results left Far West, Intermountain and PNSA in the J3 division lead medal count with two each. In J4, Far West raced out to an early lead. In addition to the gold medals of Andrews and Hall, Far West picked up silver medals from Allene Kennedy and Ty Sproke. Shin guards reported lost during J3 Men's Slalom Mammoth Lakes, CA, March 25, 2007 - Zev DeKoff, an Intermountain racer, placed his Scott shin guards on the hill, and they disappeared prior to his second run of the Men's J3 Slalom on Sunday. He was #77, and ran his second run without the guards, which had a "camo" type pattern, and were new. His parents will happily pay for shipping back to Utah. If you found DeKoff's shin guards, please contact Deb DeKoff at
skiparkcity@skiutahlocals.com. Thank you.
© 2007 Mammoth Race Department |
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