Vail, Colo. March 9, 2022 – This past week, the top qualifying young alpine skiers in the nation competed at the U18 Alpine National Championships hosted by Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (SSCV) on Golden Peak.  In the individual events,  SSCV grabbed 15 top five podiums and 22 top ten placements. In the overall results, SSCV took three top 5 podiums with Hunter Salani as the U18 overall men’s champion,  Kjersti Moritz as the U18 overall women’s champion, and Kaitlin Keane taking second place overall for the women. SSCV’s strong results at U18 National Championships contributed towards the Rocky Central Region taking first place in the Region’s Cup, with the West region following in second place, and the East taking third. 

The U18 National Championships is a unique opportunity for high-level U18 alpine athletes (birth year 2004 – 2005) to compete in four different disciplines and showcase their skills on a national stage.  This competition, which was held for the first time in five years, consisted of men’s and women’s Downhill on March 3rd (preceded by training runs the two days prior), men’s and women’s Super-G on March 4th, women’s Giant Slalom on March 5th, men’s Giant Slalom on March 6th, and men’s and women’s slalom on March 7th. The downhill event was the first race held from the top of the Golden Peak Expansion to the base of the mountain, and showed this world-class venue in all its glory. 

“We were super excited for the U18 Championships. It was the first time we got to race Downhill on the Gold Peak expansion and use the entire trail, which is pretty historic for our club,” said Ian Lochhead, SSCV Alpine FIS Men’s Head Coach.  “SSCV racers were well prepared, it was a fun week of competing with the best U18 racers across the country.  The venue was in amazing shape, and the races were top not notch and something we can all be very proud of.”

“The competition was a huge success!  It was an honor to host this event and see U18 alpine athletes from across the nation competing on Golden Peak,” said Brad Wall, SSCV Alpine Program Director.

“This event could not have taken place without the hours of manpower from Vail Resorts, Race City, the Beaver Creek race crew and SSCV coaches, in preparing and maintaining a world class  venue.  These athletes could not have asked for a better venue.   We are also very grateful for  the many volunteers and staff who gave their time both on and off snow to pull off an event of this magnitude. SSCV is deeply grateful and appreciative of everyone who took a part in making this event so successful, including our sponsors.” 

“It was an outstanding effort by all the ladies this past week. Their hard work throughout the year has paid off,” said Andrew Keating, SSCV Alpine Head FIS Women’s Coach. “A huge thank you to SSCV staff, race cew and Chris Ogilvie for ensuring this event was top notch.” 

Listed below are the top five podiums, top 10 SSCV placements, overall champions and their points accumulated, and the regionals cup outcome: 

 

Regions Cup:

1 – Rocky Central – 246 PTS

2 – West – 137 PTS

3 – East – 59 PTS

 

Overall U18 Champions – Males: 

1 – Hunter Salani – SSCV – 272 PTS

2 – Finnigan Donley – SVSEF – 192 PTS

3 – Jeremy Nolting – SSP – 152 PTS

4 – Dominic Shackleton – BMA – 151 PTS

5 – Roman Elvidge – SSP – 145 PTS

 

Overall U18 Champions – Females:

1 – Kjersti Moritz – SSCV – 240 PTS

2 – Kaitlin Keane – SSCV – 230 PTS

3 – Tatum Grosdidier – SSP – 180 PTS

4 – Allison Mollin – TPT – 160 PTS

5 – Annaliese Frolich – CMAC – 131 PTS

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Men’s Alpine U18 Championships Downhill U18 podium & SSCV Top 10 – March 3, 2022:

1 – Hunter Salani – SSCV

2 – Jeremy Nolting – SSP

3 – Ryan Thomas – OMS

4 – Finnigan Donley – SVSEF

5 – Roman Elvidge – SSP

6 – Julian Arthur – SSCV

 

Women’s Alpine U18 Championships Downhill U18 podium & SSCV Top 10 – March 3, 2022:

1 – Allison Mollin – TPT

2 – Annaliese Frolich – CMAC

3 – Paige Dehart – SVSEF

4- Maya Lightner – SVSEF

5 – Merina Visnic – OMS

7 – Zoie Palmer – SSCV

 

Men’s Alpine U18 Championship Super-G  U18 podium & SSCV Top 10 – March 4, 2022:

1 – Hunter Salani – SSCV 

2 – Nolan Sweeny – BMA 

3 – Carson Hume – SSCV

4 – Finnigan Donley – SVSEF

5 – Karsten Hart – IND 

 

Women’s Alpine U18 Championship Super-G  U18 podium & SSCV Top 10 – March 4, 2022:

1 – – SSCV

2 – Tatum Grosdidier – SSP

3 – Kjersti Moritz – SSCV

4 – Allison Mollin – TPT

5 – Paige Dehart – SVSEF

7 – Sophie Stocker – SSCV

10 – Zoie Palmer – SSCV

 

Women’s Alpine U18 Championships Giant Slalom  U18 podium & SSCV Top 10 – March 5, 2022:

1 – Kjersti Moritz – SSCV 

2 – Kaitlin Keane – SSCV

3 – Elisabeth Bocock – RM

4 – Phoebe Heaydon – SSCV 

5 – Maddie Welling – RM 

7 – Zoie Palmer – SSCV

9 – Mikalya Smyth – SSCV

 

Men’s Alpine U18 Championships Giant Slalom  U18 podium & SSCV Top 10 – March 6, 2022:

1 – John Kerbaugh – MMA

2 – Sebastian Kohlhofer – SSCV

3 – Roman Elvidge  – SSP

4 – Hunter Salani – SSCV 

5 – Julian Arthur – SSCV

 

Women’s Alpine U18 Championships Slalom  U18 podium & SSCV Top 10 – March 7, 2022:

1 – Tatum Grosdidier – SSP

2 – Kjersti Moritz – SSCV 

3 – Sophia Palmquist – SUM 

4 – Kaitlin Keane – SSCV 

5 – Phoebe Heaydon – SSCV 

 

Men’s Alpine U18 Championships Slalom  U18 podium & SSCV Top 10 – March 7, 2022:

1 – Nick Demarco – SSP 

2 – Dominic Shackleton – BMA

3 – Donley Finnigan – SVSEF

4 – Sebastian Kohlhofer – SSCV

5 – Aleix Aubert Serracanta – SPA 

6 – Nick Kirkwood – SSCV 

 

Many thanks to SSCV’s alpine bib and safety pad sponsors Arrigoni Woods and Groove Auto, SSCV gate panel sponsor Alpine Bank along with the following U18 National Championship sponsors:  Alpine Bank, Arrigoni Woods,  ASP, Christy Sports, Cold River RSE, EnjoyWinter, Fischer Ski, HEAD SKI, 4imprint, Knapp Harvest, Land Title Guarantee Company, Phunkshun Wear, Rossignol, Sonnenalp Hotel Vail, SYNC Performance, The Feed and Vail Valley Pharmacy.

For the full list of results, please go to https://www.fis-ski.com.