BY HEATHER FOSTER

The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation will send four athletes to the U16 Nationals, following their performance at the Western Regionals held recently in Alaska.

Nearly 180 athletes descended on Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, Alaska, for the U16 Western Region Championships.

Slalom, Giant Slalom and two Super G races over the four days were on tap for both the men and women from across the region, in their quest to qualify for U16 Nationals.

At the conclusion of the championships, Ruby Smith, Taylor Moe, Tucker Reimund, and Ulrich Rossi qualified for U16 Nationals by finishing in the top 15 for the overall. U16 Nationals will be held March 31-April 4 in Vail, Colo. 

“The SVSEF Alpine U16 squad qualified 13 athletes to attend U16 Regionals in Alyeska,” said Nate Schwing, SVSEF Alpine U16 Team Head Coach. “We were greeted by great hospitality and beautiful scenery. The snow conditions were very challenging for the competing field, which made for a series where athletes needed to adapt and persevere. Our team performed well and it was an experience our group will for sure take with them into the future!”

The second Super G race for both men and women was the championship event to count towards the overall titles, which were awarded based on the best two out of three races. Awards were given to the top ten per gender per championship event, and to the top three per gender in the first Super G.

At the conclusion of the U16 Western Region Championships, SVSEF’s Taylor Moe won the overall for the women sweeping all four races, with teammate Ruby Smith coming in second overall with an eighth place in Slalom, third in Giant Slalom and a third- and second-place finish in the two Super G races respectively. 

On the men’s side, consistent skiing by Ulrich Rossi landed him in fourth overall with a sixth place in Slalom, eighth in the first Super G and second place in the Super G championship race. Tucker Reimund snuck into seventh overall, tying for third in Slalom and finishing eighth in the championship Super G race. 

Other standout results for the SVSEF U16 Team include first-year U16’s Conway Selznick tying for ninth in the men’s Giant Slalom and Huxley Flood bringing home a top ten in tenth place in the first Super G race. Second-year U16 teammate Jay Blackburn had a solid series as well finishing 18th in the Giant Slalom, 28th in the first Super G, and 29th in the championship Super G.

First-year U16 athlete Elliot Leahy skied a strong Super G series racing to 13th in the first race and a top 20 in 18th in the championship Super G.