Last week 20 members of the KMS Freestyle Team traveled to Steamboat, Colorado for Junior Olympics for moguls, dual moguls, slopestyle, halfpipe and aerials. We were the largest mogul team qualifying for the annual event. We had amazing weather and conditions that made for a great week of competition, free skiing, camaraderie and fun! Many parents were on board for the trip providing support and great dinners for the coaches!

Our halfpipe team consisted of Jillian Kazley and Colby Vavolotis. Jillian’s session in the pipe consisted of a truck grab to mute grab to 540 to alley oop to 540. Jillian ended up in tenth position at the end of the day but she was only one landing away from putting herself on the podium. Her halfpipe run progressed well over the course of the week and she looks forward to her last two halfpipe competitions this year: the North American Tour at Mt Snow, VT on March 21 and 22 and US Championships at Park City, UT on March 27th. Colby Vavolotis did a great job in the pipe with great amplitude out of the pipe and nearly landing his 9.

Kat DiMascio carried the torch for the team in the slopestyle event on Thursday. As a first year competitor at Juniors and in slopestyle, Kat put on an impressive show for her teammates. We look forward to watching her progress in this discipline next year.

Moguls Day! We had, by far, the greatest number of athletes competing in this event by any team. It was a beautiful day with bluebird skies and great competition.

Leading the men’s team out of finals was Sterling Crescimanno finishing in the 8th position with a spectacular run in finals. After qualifying in the 3rd position after semi-finals Bryan Zemba ended up in 10th. Tim Chamberlain finished in 11th with some great skiing and impressive jumps. Nick Keating, who qualified in the 10th position after semi-finals, finished up in 19th.

Leading the women’s team out of finals was Kelsey Albert. Kelsey also qualified in the 3rd position in semi-finals but just missed the podium with a bobble in the bottom section in finals, resulting in a 7th place finish. Elizabeth Smith also had an amazing day and finished up in 17th after finals.

Overall Women’s Mogul Results:
Kelsey Albert 7th
Elizabeth Smith 17th
Victoria Smith 29th
Alta Curtis 40th
Kat DiMascio 48th
Allison Benedict 49th – Second place for F4’s
Rebecca Goldstein 57th
Kayla Burcin 58th
Kait Yakaitis 61st
Overall Men’s Mogul Results:
Sterling Crescimanno 8th
Bryan Zemba 10th
Tim Chamberlain 11th
Nick Keating 19th
Jeremy Gravell 36th
Ryan Brewster 37th
Brian Smith 46th
Tyler Wadhams 49th
Alden English 51st
Colby Vavolotis 55th

And the 2008 Junior Olympic Aerial Champion is..JILLIAN KAZLEY!!! Competing her back lay and sick front flip, Jill edged out the competition and put herself on top of the podium. She had a great day and we were all so proud of her!

On the last day of competition – dual moguls – the team took a big hit losing Bryan Zemba to a head injury and Kelsey Albert to some shin pain. Sterling Crescimanno and Elizabeth Smith stepped up to the plate and carried the torch for the team: Both athletes qualified for the Round of 16 and had impressive duals against some of their fellow top junior skiers in the country.

The Eastern Division ended up winning the Division Title for the third year in a row.

It was a great trip with many personal successes. Some of the results do not speak to the amazing skiing that we saw out of all of our athletes. They all put everything they had into their performances and the future looks so BRIGHT for KMS Freestyle!

    - Submitted: Tuesday, March 11th by Deb Newson