Overcast skies, snow showers and a light breeze greeted the 85 competitors the morning of Saturday Jan 11 for the start of this season’s Rasmussen Classic SL race. Racers from age 7 to 15 competed in the US Ski & Snowboard sanctioned Central Series event held over two days. Each day saw the competitors vying for the fastest combined time in their age category across two runs comprising the race.
Snow conditions were ideal on the NASTAR race course. Age categories U12, U14 and U16 started from the top of NASTAR run with U10 racers starting a bit lower at the “NASTAR Bump”. Top competitors from each age category were recognized with trophies and medals depending on place.
On Saturday the U10 Ladies’ top racer was Olivia Gluchowski from Bear Valley followed by Heidi Torres in second, also from Bear Valley. Lola Owensby from China Peak took third. For the U10 Men, Peter Fowler of Bear Valley took first place ahead of Brendan Fry of BV followed by Kane Cedar of China Peak.
Moving up to the higher start, in U12 Ladies Pearl Johnson of Yosemite Winter Club claimed top honors followed by Yana Smith then Ellora Mehta both from Dodge Ridge. For U12 Men, Bobby Klaje of Dodge Ridge took top honors followed by team mate Malekai Fromm with Logan Donnelly from China Peak coming in third.
In the U14 age class, Ladies first place finisher was Elise Fowler of Bear Valley. Second place went to Penelope Cedar of China Peak with third place going to Nina Smith of Dodge Ridge. For the Men, Kane Hall of Bear Valley nailed down first place followed by Landon Lang of China Peak with Owen Dahl coming in third.
For the top age category, U16, the first-place finisher was Lena Roberts of China Peak. Dodge Ridge’s Sarah Azevedo took second with Alexis Ghiglieri of Yosemite Winter Club in third. In U16 Men, Bear Valley’s own Jake Shawkey had two red hot runs the clinch first place. Second place went to Brendan Byrne of Yosemite Winter Club followed by Rafael Harron of BV.
Sunday saw better weather conditions although a bit cooler than Saturday but with a bit of welcoming sun popping out.
In U10 action, the course set proved difficult with 6 disqualifications in the Ladies category. The top three places were a sweep for China Peak with first place went to Lauren Lang, second to Lola Owensby and third to Savannah Ferguson. In the U10 Men, Peter Fowler of BV again took top honors with Kane Cedar of China Peak in second and Cody Notte of Bear Valley taking third.
Pearl Johnson from Yosemite Winter Club skied to first place in U12 Ladies. Dodge Ridge team mates Iona Liu and Yana Smith took second and third respectively. In U12 Men’s action, Bobby Klaje repeated his first-place performance besting Logan Donnelly of China Peak, second and Malekai Fromm of Dodge in third.
Elise Fowler, Bear Valley once again topped the U14 Ladies competitors with teammate Maddie Utterback in second followed by Penelope Cedar of China Peak. In U14 Men, Landon Lang of China Peak took the first-place trophy, Evan Hantske of Dodge Ridge was second and Owen Dahl of Dodge Ridge came in third.
U16 Ladies results were topped by Yosemite Winter Club’s Alexis Ghiglieri, followed by Lena Roberts of China Peak in second and Sarah Azevedo of Dodge in third. Wrapping up the U16 Men, Jake Shawkey once again finished in the top spot with Rafael Harron second and Brendan Byrne in third.
The Rasmussen Classic also honors the top U14 Ladies and Mens competitor that had the fastest combined time for both days. This recognizes both speed and consistency. This season’s winners are Elise Fowler for the Ladies and Landon Lang for the Men.
