BLOGS

Members of MRST started the racing season in December and have been quickly establishing themselves as top runners in all levels of competition. Team members have competed in the North American Trophy Series, FIS University, Northwest Cup, Northwest J3 Qualifiers, PNSA Evergreen Cup, and Youth Ski League events. At every level, MRST members have moved up the ladder and in many cases, at the end of the day, stood on the podium. Leading the FIS level athletes (age 15 and older) are Clare Wise, Tara Hines, Kyle Coxon, Clayton Conner, Alec Jones and Cai Yamamoto. All of these athletes have had podium results. Clare won her first Super G race ever at the Northwest Cup races at Schweitzer Mountain, ID in early Jan. In addition she finished 6th in the second Super G and 2nd in the Giant Slalom event. Alec Jones also had a stellar weekend at Schweitzer, finishing 3rd in Giant Slalom and 2nd and 11th in Super G. Kyle Coxon has been attending Western Region FIS races (best racers age 15 & older in the Western U.S.)and has delivered a number of top 10 results in both Slalom and Giant Slalom. Tara, Clayton and Cai have also had some top 10 results at both Northwest and Western Region events. Other FIS team athletes knocking at the door are Travis Ahman, Gage Managhan, Josh Sanborn, Shaw Lowry, Drew Holmberg, and Kellie DeRuwe.

MRST J3 athletes have also had a great start to the season. Their first event was the Webb Moffett Cup GS at Snoqualmie Pass. These races are part of the Evergreen Cup Series in the Northwest, for racers age 13 and older. Ben Holmberg had a great weekend finishing 13th and 10th overall, and 3rd and 4th in his age group. On the girls side, Lindsay Ahman finished 4th and 5th overall, and 1st and 2nd in the J3 age class. Other top finishes for the Ridge team were Mattie Wise taking 5th overall on the 1st day (2nd J3), Hannah Bodily 11th and 12th overall, and Delilah Cupp 13th and 16th overall. Delilah was also awarded the ‘Move Up’ award for the athlete who started the furthest back and moved the furthest forward by the end of the day. Webb Moffett acted as a tune up race for the next J3 competition, the Northwest J3 Qualifiers held at Mt. Spokane. Results from the Qualifiers are used to choose athletes to represent the Pacific Northwest at the Western Region J3 Championships in March. Ben Holmberg had a solid weekend of racing, finishing all events in some very challenging conditions. He finished on the podium all three days, with 2nd and 6th place results in Giant Slalom and 2nd in the final days Slalom. Lindsay Ahman led the MRST girls (GS 3rd and 5th, SL 15th). Delilah Cupp (GS 9th), Hannah Bodily (GS 14th, SL 10th), and Katherine Robinson (GS 7th) all managed a podium result over the course of the weekend. Other MRST J3 athletes to watch this season include Katrina Leyh, Mikayla Nelson, Caroline Taylor, Fred Williams, Jake DeRuwe, Cole Paton, Coen Needell, and Eamon Ohme.

Not to be outdone by their older teammates, MRST Youth Ski League (age 12 and under) members competed strong in their home hosted Apple Invitational Giant Slalom races Jan. 22 and 23. The race brought 130 young athletes from around the state of Washington for the two days of racing. Conditions were excellent with sunny skies and very firm snow, making an extremely fair event for every athlete involved. James Wiggs was the leader for the MRST boys, finishing 3rd and 5th in the J4 class (age 11 – 12). These are outstanding results for this first year racer in his first race ever. He was closely followed each day by teammates Reed Stanbery (8th both days), Jeffrey Webb (12th and 13th), Adam Milne (14th & 16th), Matthew Olson (17th and 18th), and Max Johnson (18th ). Lauren Selland was the top J4 girl for MRST finishing 8th and 9th in the J4 girls division. Katrina Olson (14th and 15th) and Anna Gallagher (18th) rounded out the results for the team. Sophie Black (J6 age 8 & under) Shae Milne (J5 age 9-10), added additional podium results for the team. Sophie won the girls J6 division on Sat. and was 3rd on Sun. Shae finished 5th both days in the J5 girls class. Haille Johnson (J5 7th and DSQ), Tyson Schmitten (J5 11th and 15th) and Declan Messer (J6 10th and 11th) rounded out the results for the team. Next up for this group is the Wolf Chase Race at Loup Loup in February.

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