Flathead Valley ski racers compete in Big Sky
Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation (FVSEF) athletes found the podium several times over the weekend in Big Sky, Montana at the U14/U16 Northern Division Qualifier, despite limited training opportunities in December.
Over three days of racing, athletes from across Montana and parts of Wyoming and South Dakota competed in two slaloms (SL) and two giant slaloms (GS). In the U16 age group, Greta Lund from Polson placed second in one of the slaloms and had third and fourth-place finishes in the GSs, while teammate Lola Zinser from Whitefish found the podium in one of the SLs with a third-place finish.
In the U14 age group, Leo Bungener of Whitefish won one of the SLs, was second in the other, and second in one of the GSs. Kira Paatalo of Whitefish earned a fourth-place finish in one of the SLs, and Colter Bengtson of West Glacier also placed fourth in an SL. The FVSEF team had several finishers in the top 10 and top 15 of their age groups or had personal bests.
The race series was the first of several this winter that will count towards qualifying Northern Division athletes to the Western Regional Championships at Alyeska Resort, Alaska (U16s) and Grand Targhee, Wyoming (U14s) and the Tri-Divisional Championships at Big Sky and Bridger, Montana (U14s and U16s) in late March. Blacktail Ski Area and Whitefish Mountain Resort will host Northern Division qualifying races for U14s and U16s this winter Feb. 22 - 25.
Girls Slalom
SL 1
U14
Kira Paatalo 4th, Finlee Klocke 11th, Avery Retz 15th, Sierra Nelson 19th, Claire Graham 24th, Lillie Groom 25th
U16
Greta Lund 2nd, Sydney McPhie 7th, Lola Zinser 8th, Guinevere Tomblin 16th, Dynalea Tomblin 18th
SL 2
U14
Finlee Klocke 7th, Avery Retz 9th, Sierra Nelson 17th, Claire Graham 21st, Lillie Groom 23rd
U16
Lola Zinser 3rd, Sydney McPhie 6th, Greta Lund 9th, Guinevere Tomblin 18th, Dynalea Tomblin 20th
Boys Slalom
SL 1
U14
Leo Bungener 2nd, Wyatt Nadeau 17th, Cristiano Wright 22nd, Rylan Hoover 27th
U16
Parker Retz 8th
SL2
U14
Leo Bungener 1st, Colter Bengston 4th, Wyatt Nadeau 8th, Soren Lund 11th
U16
Brayden Hoover 6th, Parker Retz 8th
Girls Giant Slalom
GS 1
U14
Finlee Klocke 9th, Avery Retz 12th, Sierra Nelson 22nd, Claire Graham 24th, Lillie Groom 27th
U16
Greta Lund 4th, Lola Zinser 7th, Sydney McPhie 10th, Guinevere Tomblin 14th, Dynalea Tomblin 19th
GS 2
U14
Kira Paatalo 10th, Avery Retz 13th, Claire Graham 20th, Sierra Nelson 24th, Lillie Groom 28th
U16
Greta Lund 3rd, Lola Zinser 6th, Sydney McPhie 10th, Guinevere Tomblin 12th, Dynalea Tomblin 17th
Boys Giant Slalom
GS 1
U14
Soren Lund 12th, Wyatt Nadeau 14th, Rylan Hoover 15th, Cristiano Wright 20th
U16
Brayden Hoover 7th
GS2
U14
Leo Bungener 2nd, Soren Lund 6th, Wyatt Nadeau 13th, Rylan Hoover 17th, Cristiano Wright 25th
U16
Brayden Hoover 8th