Ski & Snowboard Club Vail traveled to Sunlight Mountain Resort with 46 boys and girls for the J5 Festival slalom on Saturday, 1/28.  With 16 of the Rocky Mountain Division’s clubs attending from Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico, the slalom races are combined with a fun team race on Sunday.  This event gives the J5s a chance to meet their peers and compete in a friendly environment leading up to the J5 Finale in March.

The boys and girls had two one run slalom races on Saturday, with the SSCV girls taking control of the leader board in the morning race with a podium sweep.

Cleo Braun, Allie Resnick, and Falyn Pykkonen, took first, second, and third in the morning SL.  Jordon McMurtry, Kaitlyn Harsch, Caroline Jones, and Samantha Trudeau made the top ten finishing fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively.  Marley Chappel and Jenevieve McMurtry finished in 11th and 15th.

In the morning SL for the SSCV boys, Fletcher Holm took the win, with teammates Henry Heaydon and Kellen Kinsella finishing third and fourth.

In the afternoon SL for the SSCV girls, well, they took control again placing ten racers into the top 15.

Braun took her second win of the day with Jones getting the silver.  Harsch, Resnick, Pykkonen, Jenevieve McMurtry, Austin Obourn, Chappel, Trudeau, and Jordan McMurtry, rounded out the first page of results (top 15) finishing fourth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, 11th, 12th, and 15th, respectively.

The SSCV boys saw Heaydon, Kinsella, Andrew Stevens, and Ian McCormick finish fourth, sixth, tenth, and 13th, respectively, in the afternoon SL.

“It’s great to have our kids step it up against clubs from four different states,” said J5 coach Penny Hietala.  “Being our first slalom event of the season, SSCV’s J5 team got to put their technical skills to use on race day.”

The SSCV J5 team travels to Winter Park on 2/4 and 2/5 for more slalom racing.