March Looming!

We had another great weekend of competition to start the President's Week Holiday with a Saturday night railjam at Titus and a bluebird Monday at Gore/North Creek Ski Bowl's final Skier/Boardercross of the season.  The action was great in both locations and now with those comps behind us we are into the home stretch of the USASA season.  The final three regional events are upon us, all at Whiteface, as is the month of March!

This Sunday the 23rd is our final ADK Slopestyle and next weekend is a double-header with our makeup for "Deck the Rails" taking place Saturday afternoon, with our final SX/BX on Sunday closing out the regional season.

By now I hope you've all been thinking about your plans for Nationals and have a good idea whether you will be attending.  Regional champions for each of our disciplines will be decided with the completion of each of our final three events.  Based on current results, and by looking up regional rankings online you can get a good idea of whether that invite will come right away or after the national office goes to the points list.  Please take the time to check and then let me know your intentions - or questions - the sooner, the better.  If you're in first place in our region but do not intend to attend Nationals, we have the option to name the second place athlete in their place.  This must take place before invites go out but I can't do that if you don't tell me.  That means that 2nd place might  have to wait until they get invited via National Ranking Points.  That extra time is really valuable in securing cheaper flights, accommodations, etc., so please let me know asap.

Freeride evaluations will be available for pick-up at the NYSEF front desk on Sunday the 23rd so please stop by and pick them up.  If you have any questions or concerns that your coach can't answer, please come find me or shoot me an e-mail and I'll take it from there.

Thanks,
Mike K

Empire State Winter Games 2014

Well, we had another great weekend of competition at the Empire State Games with many athletes from all over the state coming together to vie for this year's championship.  The Catskill & Adirondack series were well represented in both the Cross & Slopestyle contests, trading spots on the podium from division to division.  Congrats to all the athletes who took part!

Some of our notable NYSEF results are listed below.

Skiercross/Boardercross

Menehune Boys - 3rd - Cobane Bissonette
Skier Girls (10-12) - 1st - Avery Higgins-Lopez, 2nd - Julia Schneider (NYSEF Winter Term)
Skier Boys (10-12) - 1st - Camden Reiley, 2nd - Elias Ford, 3rd - Kaylen Reiley
Skier Men (13-15) - 1st - J. Sloan Ruhl (NYSEF Gore), 2nd - Jake Roney
Youth Men (14-15) - 1st - Anthony Russo, 2nd - Andrew Piper (NYSEF Gore)

Slopestyle

Skier Boys (10-12) - 1st - Bryant Ward, 2nd - Kaylen Reiley, 3rd - Elias Ford
Skier Girls (10-12) - 1st - Julia Schneider, 2nd - Madeline Prichard
Skier Men (13-15) - 1st - Brian Gardiner, 2nd - Gavin Fritz, 3rd - Jacob Prichard
Skier Men (16-18) - 1st - Maxwell Finn, 2nd - Taylor Bond
Youth Men (14-15) - 1st - Joshua Boise

USSA B Slopestyle & Aerial

A big THANKS to those who came out this weekend for both events at Whiteface MT and the Olympic Jumping Complex.  With conflicting events going on around the East the turnout was low but the ORDA facilities were in great shape and the staff support was high.  Hopefully we can keep this one on the calendar for next year and see a lot more athletes turn out for a more competitive atmosphere.  I must also thank Pete Gardiner and PRG Financial for their underwriting of the event.  Their support allowed us to keep our officials happy and fed while giving something back to the NYSEF Freeride program.  Thanks Pete!

Results

F3's - Brett DeWeese - SS 2 - 1st's, 1st Overall / A 2-1st's, 1st Overall
F5's - Brooke Deweese - SS 2-1st's / A 2-1st's

M3's - Brian Gardiner - SS 2-1st's, 1st Overall / A 1-1st
           Jake Roney - SS 2-2nd's, 3rd Overall / A 2nd, 1st
           Jack DeWeese - SS 2-3rd's / A 2-2nd's, 3rd Overall
M4's - Camden Reiley - SS 2-1st's / A 2-1st's, 2nd Overall
M5's - Kaylen Reiley - SS 2-1st's, 2nd Overall / A 2-1st's, 1st Overall
           Max Oechsner - SS 2-2nd's / A 2-2nd's