Western State Skiing Update; Nordic freshman wins Alley Loop, alpine skiers ranked at the top, and the freeride team competes for the first time
Feb. 9, 2010 -- All three of the Western State ski teams competed this past weekend, with the newly created freeride ski team entering their first competition -- the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour in Telluride.
He's even ahead of Superman. Freshman Chris Lange won the 21k in the Alley Loop Nordic Marathon, held in Crested Butte.
Freshman skier Chris Lange won the 21k Alley Loop Nordic Marathon in Crested Butte, a race that attracts more than 500 skiers. Fellow team members also took top ten finishes in both the 21k and 42k. The alpine team’s top skiers, seniors Dylan Bryant and Kara Delaney, finished the weekend ranked number one and number two respectively in the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA).
Nordic
The 24th Annual Alley Loop Nordic Marathon had its usual display of funkiness and fitness this past Saturday in Crested Butte, and a WSC freshman even managed to win the 21k.
More than 500 skiers from across the U.S. participated in the race that weaves through the alley’s and ski trails of Crested Butte. The race was organized by the Crested Butte Nordic Center.
The traditionally unique race had a healthy showing of costumes mixed in with some serious Nordic skiers. In addition to the 21k victory by Chris Lange, a freshman on the Western State Nordic team, several other WSC and Gunnison skiers competed in the race.
Lange won the 21k with a time of 1:14:18.
Other top men from the WSC team were sophomore Scott Krankkala taking sixth place in the 42k (2:25:20), and senior Tom Sunderland was right behind him taking ninth in the 42k (2:32:51).
Senior Brittany Perkins took sixth place in the 42k women (3:01:56). Becky Sears, lecturer in biology at Western, took eighth place in the 42k (3:04:09).
A complete list of results can be found at the Crested Butte Nordic Center’s website .
Alpine
The Western State alpine ski team held its own at the Loveland ski area this weekend with their third conference race this season. Both days of racing were slalom events.
The men’s team held on to their third place in the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA). The top men’s racer, senior Dylan Bryant, ended up fourth overall in the men’s slalom on Saturday and second on Sunday. Bryant holds onto his position as the men’s conference overall leader.
The women’s team remains in fifth place in the Rocky Mountain Conference of the USCSA. Senior Kara Delaney finished third on both Saturday and Sunday. She is the second-ranked skier in the women’s conference.
Freeride
The Western State freeride ski team competed in the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour in Telluride this past week. It was the newly created team’s first competition.
The WSC skiers were the only collegiate team to enter the event, which features some of the best up-and-coming big mountain skiers in the United States. According to Coach Eric Freson, the WSC team is one-of-a-kind for participating in the tour.
After the competition’s first day, two skiers qualified to continue: Mark Mikos was in 13th place and Sam Degenhard was in 18th. Other skiers who competed that day were Freson, Ciera Glenn, Max Lindsey and Scott Ryal.
On the second day of competition, both Mikos and Degenhard crashed out, with Mikos under rotating a large back flip and Degenhard going long on a double stager.
“Overall it was a great competition,” Freson said. “No injuries and everyone was super stoked on the experience. In the stressful world of freeskiing, that is not always the case.”
Results and video featuring WSC Freeride skiers can be found at the Subaru Freesking World Tour's website.
