Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s Sammy Schuiling (left) captured a silver medal in halfpipe in the highly competitive open skier boys class at the United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association 2016 National Championships for skiers held at Copper Mountain on April 8-12.

Twenty-nine Ski & Snowboard Club Vail athletes earned a coveted invitation to the United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association 2016 National Championships for skiers held at Copper Mountain from April 8-12.  Athletes convened from around the country to compete in halfpipe, slopestyle, skiercross and a rail jam in their respective age class, with some athletes electing to compete in the highly competitive open age class division.

The following Ski & Snowboard Club Vail skiers qualified for USASA National Championships (first time participants designated with asterisk (*) in front of their name):   Pearson Black, Dylan Boyes, Kai Brown, Michael Brown, Aaron Ford Chaussignand, Felix Coudouy, Lachlan Crick, Ari Diamond-Topelson, Adam Eisenhauer, Jack Ganley, Noah Gionfriddo, *Gavin Goike, Owen Grimmer, *Henry Heaydon, *Cooper Huggins, Whit Hyde, Erik Jaerbyn, Izak Little, Halsey Lucas, Aaron Milligan, Sammy Schuiling, Ava Surridge, Roxy Surridge, Rory Swimm, *Sloane Thompson, *Sydney Thompson, Reagan Wallis, *Brynn Wedlake and *Ryan Wedlake.

Podium and Top Ten Finishes

Ski & Snowboard Club Vail athletes are members of the USASA Rocky Mountain Series, the most difficult USASA series in the country, and two times larger than the next largest series.  Club athletes earned seven podium performances with Schuiling winning a silver medal in halfpipe in the highly competitive open class for the boys.  Brynn Wedlake took silver in halfpipe for skier girls (13-15), Ava Surridge took bronze in slopestyle for skier girls (10-12), Henry Heaydon took gold in skiercross for skier boys (13-15) and Roxy Surridge won three gold medals for skier girls (9 and under) in halfpipe, slopestyle and the rail jam.

Ski & Snowboard Club Vail athletes walked away from these national championships with twenty-six top ten finishes listed below, including the above seven podium finishes.

Slopestyle Open Skier Boys

6 Schuiling

9 Milligan

Halfpipe Open Skier Boys

2 Schuiling

5 Coudouy

Halfpipe Skier Boys (13-15)

8 Reagan Wallis

Halfpipe Skier Boys (10-12)

9 Crick

Halfpipe Skier Boys (9 and under)

7 Goike

Skiercross Skier Boys (16-18)

5 Lucas

Skiercross Skier Boys (13-15)

1 Heaydon

6 Little

10 Black

Skiercross Skier Boys (9 and under)

4 Huggins

Slopestyle Skier Girls (13-15)

6 Brynn Wedlake

Slopestyle Skier Girls (10-12)

3 Ava Surridge

Slopestyle Skier Girls (9 and under)

1 Roxy Surridge

4 Sloane Thompson

6 Sydney Thompson

Halfpipe Skier Girls (13-15)

2 Brynn Wedlake

Halfpipe Skier Girls (10-12)

5 Ava Surridge

Halfpipe Skier Girls (9 and under)

1 Roxy Surridge

5 Sloane Thompson

6 Sydney Thompson

Rail Jam Skier Girls (10-13)

6 Ava Surridge

Rail Jam Skier Girls (nine and under)

1 Roxy Surridge

4 Sloane Thompson

8 Sydney Thompson

For a complete list of USASA National Championship results go to www.usasa.org.

Overalls

In the top ten overalls, Wallis captured second place for skier boys (13-15) with Gionfriddo taking fourth, Jaerbyn taking eighth and Eisenhauer taking tenth place for skier boys (10-12).  On the girl’s side, Ava Surridge took fourth place overall for skier girls (10-12).

Ski & Snowboard Club Vail freeski coach Bob Sonntag stated, “Over the three competition days at USASA Freeski Nationals, we had several podiums, and a few top ten finishes.  I was also incredibly impressed by the personal bests that every one of our athletes put forth!   Our athletes put down tricks they had never before performed in slopestyle, achieved amplitude beyond anything they had practiced in halfpipe, and showed grit and determination of heroic proportions in skiercross!  What was most impressive was the support our athletes provided to one another as well as to athletes from other programs, whether cheering those on the podium or cheering up those who did not perform as well as they might have hoped.   I was extremely proud of this heartfelt display of sportsmanship exhibited by SSCV athletes at Copper Mountain.”

Invitations to Unites States Ski Team Gold Camp

Based on results at either USASA National Championships, United States Ski and Snowboard Association Junior Olympics or the Revolution Tour, athletes were invited to participate in the United States Ski Team Gold Camp, a camp geared to helping develop the next group of talent in the sport.  Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s Ava Surridge and Brynn Wedlake were invited to this camp based on their performance at USASA National Championships, and Coudouy, Milligan and Schuiling earned their spots at the camp based on their results at the Revolution Tour.