Fourteen AVSC J4 Skiers Headed to J4s - Club Claims #1 Boy, #1 Girl Qualifiers
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| by Alan Cole |
March 2, 2009
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The AVSC Alpine J4 team made the most of their trip to Crested Butte from Feb. 20-22. Danielle Brownell-Patty racked up three more wins, Colby Lane added three more victories to his total and Dean Travers and Andrew Hancock each stepped up for a gold medal. Their results were icing on the cake as 12 AVSC boys and 2 AVSC girls qualified for Junior Olympics. In fact, the top six qualifying spots for the J4 boys went to AVSC racers and Brownell-Patty is the #1 ranked girl for her age.
"Danielle's so dominant that no one can touch her," said AVSC J4 coach Rohan Verplank. "She beat the entire field in Friday's super-G race and won by over seven seconds, an eternity in ski racing." Brownell missed a gate and had to hike in her first slalom race on Saturday, but rebounded to win the afternoon race. The cycle was repeated at Sunday's GS races, missed gate and hike in the morning and a win in the afternoon.
Teammate Sonja Gagen also made the cut for Junior Olympics with an 18th place super-G result, 13th and 16th in her slalom races and 21st and 28th in GS. "Sonja's very consistent and keeps improving every week," said Verplank. "She works hard in training and it shows." Gagen qualified 19th out of 28 girls chosen for Junior Olympics.
The AVSC boys team shut out the competition from the top six qualifying spots at this year's J4 Junior Olympics. Colby Lane was the lead dog on the team as the #1 qualifier. Lane finished 6th in the super-G, won both GS races and one of the slalom races on the weekend. "He skied absolutely terrific," said Verplank. "Colby has an instinct for the fall line and knows how to recover in a way that reminds me of Bode Miller."
Dean Travers qualified for JOs in the number two slot in just his second year of racing, winning the super-G and finishing fifth and second in giant slalom. "Dean has one gear - it's all or nothing for him," remarked Verplank.
Andrew Hancock's gold in the Sunday afternoon slalom competition locked up the third qualifying spot. "He's perhaps our best slalom skier, so the result was no surprise," said Verplank. Hancock also finished 12th in super-G, and seventh and third in giant slalom for the weekend.
Verplank singled out number four qualifier Ben Throm for his remarkable improvement. "What a difference a year makes. Last season Ben was one of the last guys to make the cut for JOs and now he's the most consistent, well-rounded skier we have." Throm punched his ticket to Junior Olympics with a super-G bronze and a silver and a fourth in giant slalom. "He also rips it up freeskiing which I love," added Verplank.
According to Verplank,"it was Xon Baker's week last week." Baker posted his best results of the season when the chips were down, taking fourth in super-G, sixth in the Saturday afternoon GS race and second and fourth in the slalom. "I'm really proud of the way he stepped up," said Verplank. "Qualifying fifth is a great achievement and there's more to come."
Travis Lundin showed that he's also in the hunt, qualifying sixth overall. "Travis was one of the few who had finishes in all five races," said Verplank. Lundin came through with an eighth place in super-G, fourth and 15th in GS and 7th and second in the slalom on Sunday. "He killed it in slalom and stands to surprise some people at Junior Olympics," said Verplank.
Roy Benge did Lundin one better, not only finishing all five races but posting top-ten results in each race. "Every run Roy had was rock solid," said Verplank. Benge ended the weekend with a tenth in super-G, tenth in both GS races and a sixth and ninth in the slalom races. Benge jumped up the JO rankings to qualify 13th overall, 11th for U.S. racers.
Some slalom acrobatics rescued Henry Woodrow and earned him a trip to JOs in the 20th spot. "Henry had a good weekend going, finishing 15th in Super-G, 20th and 16th in GS and pulling out a 12th place run in the afternoon slalom," said Verplank. "He came down the course right in front of me, made a bobble, did a physical 360 and still finished 12th overall. It was something to see." Tanner Spence qualified 21st despite skiing in a cast with a broken hand. Spence fought his way to 16th in super-G and 17th and 13th in GS.
Tristan Lane has pushed himself all season by skiing up an age class and still managed to qualify for Junior Olympics in the 22nd spot. "Tristan's two solid GS runs (15th and 14th) put him over the top to qualify," said Verplank. "They were both terrific results."
According to Verplank, the biggest surprise of the entire weekend was Scotty Houtsma. "Coming into this weekend, Scotty was on the outside of JOs looking in. He took a huge leap up the standings to become 29th qualifier." Houtsma finished 26th in the afternoon GS and had a season's best 13th place run in slalom to seal the deal. "He skied with heart and enthusiasm and put it all together," said Verplank. "The whole team was psyched for him."
It all came down the last race for first year J4 skier Chapin Newhard. "We were on pins and needles to find out whether he would make it," said Verplank. After finishing 38th in super-G, 25th in one GS race, and 37th in slalom after falling, he had one last chance. "He knew he had to make it happen in slalom and he laid down an excellent run," said Verplank. Newhard's 26th place result qualified him in the 38th spot out of 45 chosen. "He really came through under pressure," remarked Verplank. "These guys stepped up when they had to and I couldn't be more proud of my team."
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For details, contact
Alan Cole
AVSC
(970) 205-5104
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