The Smartwool Ski Cup series opened this past weekend at Winter Park with a giant slalom race on Saturday and a slalom race on Sunday, and Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s J3 team (13 and 14 years old), turned in solid performances.

Saturday’s GS had collegiate athletes from CU, DU, and the University of New Mexico getting some starts in before their season begins, and in the ladies race, SSCV coach Georgia Wettlaufer, formerly with the DU ski team, finished 6th.  After Wettlaufer, six SSCV J3 girls raced to the front page of results (top 15).

Megan McGrew led the charge for the SSCV J3 girls finishing third for the juniors and seventh overall.  Also making it to the top 15 for SSCV were Rachael Desrochers taking tenth with Camilla Trapness, Anna Martin, Abigail Murer, and Sasha Horn finishing 11th, 12, 13th, and 14th, respectively.

“The results from Saturday’s race shows the density and depth of the SSCV J3 girls,” said coach Rob Worrell.  “The race hill at Winter Park is super hard and slick, and the training we’ve had on Golden Peak has been a huge advantage for the team in preparation for their season.”

SSCV’s J3 boys saw Jack Keane move up from a starting position of 73 to finish second for the J3s and 13th overall.

“Keane had a really good day,” said Worrell.  “On a challenging course he fought hard and got a good result.”

In Sunday’s slalom, Wettlaufer stepped onto the top of the podium in first with Camilla Trapness taking the silver.  SSCV’s Sashsa Horn, Rachel Desrochers, Anna Martin, Whitney Merriman, and Zoe Spanos placed sixth, 13th, 15th, 16th, and 19th, respectively, to finish off the day.

“Trapness skied tactically great,” said coach Wettlaufer.  “And for the other J3 girls to ski from back in the pack to finish in the top 20 is awesome.”

Sunday’s slalom for the men saw SSCV’ s Florian Szewbel race to a first for the junior boys and second overall, less that 3/10ths of a second out of first.  Jack Keane, who finished 12th in Saturday’s GS, moved up to finish sixth overall with teammate Logan Martin on his heels in seventh.  Ryan Schmidt, Paul Cuthbertson, and Marius Grant also cracked into the top 15 placing ninth, 11th, and 13th, respectively.

“I’m really proud with how the team is developing, “ Worrell said.  “And the J3 boys have made some enormous progress over the past month.”