by Sue Greenberg
The Ability Ski Team put the rubber to the road on Tuesday on our way to Winter Park Colorado for the U.S. Alpine Adaptive Nationals. Apparently we missed out on the most epic snowfall of the season in Park City, but that's okay - our entire season of training has been leading up to this event, so it was best that we were able to maintain our focus and edging skills. Wednesday was a training day with an opportunity to ski on the Super G track in the morning and a few runs of Slalom in the afternoon. Thursday was too windy to allow for training, so we had a much needed rest day to catch up after the travel and adapt to the higher elevation. Friday brought a rare sunny day to Winter Park, and we trained Slalom in the morning.
The Ability Ski Team put the rubber to the road on Tuesday on our way to Winter Park Colorado for the U.S. Alpine Adaptive Nationals. Apparently we missed out on the most epic snowfall of the season in Park City, but that's okay - our entire season of training has been leading up to this event, so it was best that we were able to maintain our focus and edging skills. Wednesday was a training day with an opportunity to ski on the Super G track in the morning and a few runs of Slalom in the afternoon. Thursday was too windy to allow for training, so we had a much needed rest day to catch up after the travel and adapt to the higher elevation. Friday brought a rare sunny day to Winter Park, and we trained Slalom in the morning.
Today was the Slalom National Championship. The first run was exciting with our athletes, Teague Cowley, Zack Broderick and Sam Blakley skiing at a level that showcased their potential. These athletes compete in the two most competitive categories in Adaptive Racing, Men's Standing and Men's Sitting. After the first run, Teague was in seventh place in Men's Standing, ahead of some US team athletes, and Zack was in 8th place in Men's Sitting. These runs represented personal best results for these athletes. Slalom is a two run event, with the overall result coming from the addition of the two runs. At the end of the day, Teague finished in 8th place, with a result that will improve his world ranking by a significant amount. Zack had another solid run, but unfortunately was disqualified on a procedure violation. Despite this setback he has shown a great improvement in this discipline over the season. Sam finished 12th in the Men's Standing category, finding his groove after a shaky start. Overall the athletes represented the NAC very well today, and we are confident that this will continue through the remainder of the Championships.
Other results of interest to our supporters include current US Team member and NAC alumni, Erik Bayindirli finishing just off of the podium in 5th place in Men's Sitting. Park City locals Monte Meier (Men's Standing) and Stephani Victor (Women's Sitting) won the Championship Titles in their respective categories.
The Championships continue tomorrow (Sunday) with the Giant Slalom. We will keep you updated.
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