Killington Mountain School Athletes Dominate End of Season Competitions

The KMS freestyle team showed up in force at the 2008 Junior Olympic Competitions in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Not only did KMS qualify the largest number of athletes to compete, but they put the largest number of athletes in the top 10. Finishing first in the Aerials Competition was Jillian Kazley, the first KMS woman to take home the gold in fifteen years. Kazley executed a double back full front lay as to secure her win. Finishing in the top twenty for women in moguls were Kelsey Albert with a seventh place finish and Lizzy Smith, who laid down a phenomenal run for a seventeenth place finish. Sterling Crescimanno was the top male finisher for KMS with an eighth place finish, followed by Bryan Zemba in tenth place, Tim Chamberlain in eleventh and Nick Keating in nineteenth place.

On the other side of the Rockies in Aspen, Colorado, Kris Hopkins and Jimmy Ryan competed for top finishes in J2 Nationals. To put the competition in perspective, only twenty boys from the eastern region qualify to race at J2 Nationals. According to Walt Evans, US Ski Team coordinator for the event, “The field of racers at Nationals represents the top 4% of J2 racers in the country.” Hopkins finished twelfth in the Downhill and was the first eastern athlete across the line. He also finished fifteenth in the Slalom. Ryan placed fourteenth in the Super-G and was third out of the eastern athletes.

KMS J3 superstars, Sam Bateman and JJ Cleason and Max Solomon have finished the year with strong finals finishes. Sam Bateman finished 7th overall at J3 Finals. JJ Cleason finished 5th in Slalom at Junior Olympics and 11th in Giant Slalom despite a crowd pleasing crash his second run.

KMS J4 Alpine racers went head to head at States. The top place finisher for KMS for the women was Kate French with a ninth place Giant Slalom finish and an eleventh place Slalom finish. For the boys Kyle Burcin placed second in the Slalom and Wyatt Queirolo was sixth. In the Giant Slalom, James Ferri placed first and Kyle Burcin finished fourth. Ferri’s first place finish earned him a coveted spot in the Whistler Cup Shootout where he will vie for a chance to compete against the top youth in the world.

All five KMS Snowboard team members have qualified for US Nationals. They finish the season on fire with an incredible combined team effort of twenty-two 1st place gold medals and twenty-one 2nd place silver place medals. Both Victoria Gorham and Max Elles hold the unprecedented position of having qualified to compete in all five disciplines at US Nationals – an extremely difficult feat. Additionally, KMS holds three divisional championship titles. Alison Resnick is the Central Vermont Series Slopestyle Champion, Max Elles is the Slalom and Giant Slalom Champion, and Victoria Gorham is the Slalom, Giant Slalom, Boardercross, and Halfpipe Champion.

    - Submitted: Monday, March 17th by Elizabeth Reaves