The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Prater Cup this weekend
by Conor Lynch, CBMST coach
The local U14 and age class alpine ski racers have been hitting the slopes hard getting training in for their first taste of ski racing, as well as honing their skills and speed for the upcoming Prater Cup, February 23-26.
The U14 had great races in Breckenridge and Steamboat. Things kicked off at a Super G Qualifier in Breckenridge.
The race was held on Cimarron on Peak 10, which is the old World Cup hill that has lots of terrain and high speeds.
Asher Weinberg finished 10th, Connor Crossen finished 22nd and Max Shull has had a great comeback from a broken collarbone, finishing 26th out of 97 racers from all over Colorado at the Breckenridge Super G qualifier. These results give the athletes a great chance to qualify for U14 Champs in Steamboat this year.
Members of the team then headed to Steamboat for a night slalom race on the famous Howelsen Hill. Connor had a strong finish in Steamboat, finishing eighth for U14 with Asher Weinberg finishing 14th for U14 (second for first-year U14s). The U16 and U14 boys have been competing in large field sizes of 130 to 150 competitors per race, so finishing where they have is a huge accomplishment.
The CBMST also had much success at the Age Class races in Beaver Creek Giant Slalom and Winter Park Slalom. Aksel Lindenmeyr, Gavin Jobson, Julian Arthur, Mason Renick, and Avi Narayana have been leading the charge for this strong up and coming U12 group. They have had some great results in field sizes of 80-plus. Gavin reached the podium in the slalom and Aksel in the Giant Slalom.
The U10 crew is also looking strong with Enzo Napoli, Devin Lindenmeyr, Gregory Bailey, Magnus Sandusky, and Zeb and Archer Bernholtz. Enzo and Devin have led this pack with all athletes showing strong results.
The young CBMST girls have also done very well with Alex Weinberg, Anika Jobson, Addie Featherman, Brielle Griggs, and Mary Lou Avenel all performing well. Anika broke onto the podium in Winter Park with a second-place finish.
Make sure to come out and support these rising alpine racers at the Prater Cup, a U14 National Championship qualifier, right here in Crested Butte February 23-26. During the Prater Cup they race another Super G, two Giant Slaloms and two slaloms. They will take the athletes’ top three results and add them together. The top 40 athletes will qualify for U14 Championships in Steamboat.
The U10s have their championships in Telluride March 11-12 and the U12s have their championships in Powderhorn March 18-19.
