VAIL \u2014 With 35 athletes already qualified for the U16 Rocky\/Central Junior Championships, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail will be the best-represented organization by far at the annual event.<\/p>\n
Taking place in Winter Park this year, the Rocky\/Central Junior Championships bring together Alpine ski racers from across the region, which spans from Arizona to Ohio. Qualifying for the event is a benchmark of the depth of a program, and with 20 of the 41 total boys qualified coming from Ski & Snowboard Club Vail, and 15 of the 45 total girls, the local club\u2019s depth among 14- and 15-year-old (U16) athletes is second to none in the region.<\/p>\n
In addition to attracting a lot of kids, the program is also able to develop those kids into talented ski racers in high percentages.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly a few of our kids didn\u2019t qualify (for junior championships),\u201d said Alpine U16 Head Coach Urska Rabic-Bevc. \u201cA majority of the Ski Club Vail athletes made it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final junior championship qualifying event took place over the weekend in Steamboat, where Ski & Snowboard Club Vail swept the podium in the slalom.<\/p>\n
U16 racers Tianna Bruce, Kaitlin Keane and Zoie Palmer went 1-2-3, respectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a really good group success heading into the championships,\u201d Rabic-Bevc said.<\/p>\n
The Junior Championships take place March 4-10.<\/p>\n
Rabic-Bevc had just returned home from her native Slovenia when the Sync Cup junior championship qualifying event was getting underway in Steamboat Springs.<\/p>\n
She was in\u00a0Slovenia as a liaison of sorts for the American U16 racers who had qualified for the Pokal Loka, an international race open to a select few Americans who just missed the exclusive OPA Cup in Switzerland but are attracting the attention of coaches nonetheless, who want to see how these young ski racers compete on the international stage.<\/p>\n
The goal was \u201cto create an environment that was team-orientated, positive and fun,\u201d said Kathy Okoniewski, another coach who accompanied Rabic-Berc, told the U.S. Ski Team.<\/p>\n
Kjersti Moritz, of Ski & Snowboard Club Vail, qualified for the Pokal Loka races and notched a top-10 finish in the slalom on Feb. 10, an impressive result for a 14-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s pretty big of a deal because she is a first-year U16, so she has another year to go there,\u201d Rabic-Bevc said.<\/p>\n
Kjersti Moritz\u2019s twin sister, Liv Moritz, then finished fourth in the slalom in Steamboat on Sunday, one of six girls in the top seven.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team is skiing really well heading into the championships, so we\u2019re excited about our chances,\u201d Rabic-Bevc said.<\/p>\n
Rocky\/Central Junior Championships<\/strong><\/p>\n Ski & Snowboard Club Vail qualifiers<\/p>\n Boys<\/strong><\/p>\n Sebastian Kohlhofer<\/p>\n Nick Kirwood<\/p>\n Appollo Powell<\/p>\n Tanner Grant<\/p>\n Toby Scarpella<\/p>\n Tanner Rosener<\/p>\n Jackson Gayer<\/p>\n Tyler Webert<\/p>\n Taylor Dulaney<\/p>\n Hunter Roach<\/p>\n William Wasserman<\/p>\n Jakub Pecinka Samuel Packer<\/p>\n Patrick Keane<\/p>\n Dylan Anderson<\/p>\n Alessandro Cantele<\/p>\n S Thomas Conlon<\/p>\n Andrew Conley<\/p>\n Nicklas Eggebrecht<\/p>\n Girls<\/strong><\/p>\n Bayli McSpadden<\/p>\n Emma Resnick<\/p>\n Tianna Bruce<\/p>\n Zoie Palmer<\/p>\n Liv Moritz Taylor Hoyt<\/p>\n Aruwin Salehhuddin<\/p>\n Adalie Sullivan<\/p>\n Avery Schaffler<\/p>\n Robin Pavelich<\/p>\n Kjersti Moritz<\/p>\n Anastacia Stocker<\/p>\n Sophia Lehmann<\/p>\n Lauren Carlson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Mack\u00a0Dorf<\/p>\n
Kaitlin\u00a0Keane<\/p>\n