By Todd Brickson, Program Director

Competition Highlights

Below are competition highlights of current Rowmarkers who captured top finishes during the last month of the season.

U18 National Championships, Colorado, March 1–7 

Six Rowmarkers qualified for the prestigious U18 National Championships at Vail, Colorado, last week with great performances: Jack AbuHaidar, Preston Bolus, Ian Hanrahan, Ford Hodgkins, Elisabeth Bocock, and Maddie Welling. For the boys, Ford was impressive with 15th in downhill and 15th in super-G, while Jack was 17th and 25th in downhill and second in giant slalom. For the girls, Elisabeth rocketed to third in giant slalom and sixth in slalom, while Maddie found the podium in giant slalom in fifth, was ninth in super-G, and was 14th in slalom.

FIS Western Region Junior Championships, Washington, March 12–17

Twelve members of our FIS Team took part in the Western Region Junior Championships at Mission Ridge, Washington, with challenging weather and snow conditions that wreaked havoc on the schedule and resulted in a few postponements and a race cancellation during the week. Despite this, many Rowmarkers turned in great performances, including Anna Davis with a victory in slalom and a third in giant slalom. Audrey Higgins-Lopez was also impressive with a fourth and fifth in super-G, and Lili Honey skied to two ninths in super-G and 15th in giant slalom. Hayden Mengason broke through with a 15th in slalom, while Charlotte Morris and Grace Venverloh both cracked the top 30, Charlotte with a 27th in slalom and Grace with a 28th in super-G. For the boys, Cam Prichard had a great start to the series before injuring his hand, with a 16th in the first slalom (from the 81st start position, winning him the Hard Charger Award!) and 26th in giant slalom. And not to be outdone, Frank Stearns also turned in a 16th in the second slalom as well as a 30th in giant slalom.

Western Region U16 Championships, Montana, March 14–17

Five members of our U16 Team raced in the Western Region U16 Championships at Big Sky. Leading the way was Karsten Schillinger, who had a spectacular series with a victory in slalom, second in giant slalom, and fourth and sixth in super-G, thereby also winning the overall series title. First-year U16 Jack Hoffman had three excellent races, with a ninth in giant slalom, and 15th and 20th in the two super-G races. Both qualified for the U16 Nationals in Sugarloaf, Maine. Jack Zipp had his two best races of the season, with a 19th in slalom and 20th in giant slalom. For the girls, Kaia Brickson was 15th in slalom—all the way from the 50th start position.

IMD Tri-Divisional Championships, Wyoming, March 24–27

The USSA Tri-Divisionals Championships at Jackson Hole concluded with several strong Rowmark finishes. Declan Morasch was fast in super-G with an impressive fourth place. In the giant slalom, Milan Mickelson had a great race in 15th, while Andrew Hanrahan was 18th overall and fifth for U14s. For the girls, Kendall Kanarowski had her best race of the year with an 18th in slalom.

IMD SnowCup Spring Series, Utah, March 31–April 5

Many of the Rowmark girls competed at the IMD Snow Cup Spring Series at Snowbird the past few days. Sophia Hijjawi had a great series with a third in slalom (first for U14s) and second in giant slalom (first for U14s) and fifth in giant slalom (second for U14s). Charlotte Morris was sixth in the first slalom. Kaia Brickson was ninth and ninth in slalom (fourth and third for U16s) and 11th in giant slalom (eighth for U16s), while Tallulah Proulx was 20th and 27th in giant slalom (seventh and eighth for U14s).

Meanwhile, at the IMD Snow Cup Spring Series at Snowbird, Cam Prichard grabbed two podiums with a victory and third place in giant slalom. Preston Bolus was third in giant slalom and fourth in slalom; Ford Hodgkins was fourth and seventh in giant slalom, and second in slalom; Jack AbuHaidar was fifth in giant slalom and third in slalom; Frank Stearns was ninth and 14th in giant slalom, and eighth in slalom; Mason Schlopy was 11th in giant slalom and 16th in slalom; Leo Martin was 14th in slalom; and Matt Siegal was 17th in slalom. For the U16s, Jack Zipp was 13th in giant slalom (fifth for U16s) and 11th in slalom (fifth for U16s), and Freddy Gowski was 12th in slalom (sixth for U16s). For the U14s, Teo Shamah was second, third, and third (41st, 37th, and 31st overall).

U16 National Championships, Maine, April 2–6

At the prestigious U16 Nationals in Sugarloaf, Maine, Karsten Schillinger was 13th in the super-G and 12th in the giant slalom, while Jack Hoffman was 22nd in the slalom.

FIS Elite Spring Series, California, April 5–10

The Rowmark FIS Team finished their season at the FIS Elite Spring Series in Tahoe, California, where we saw Rowmarkers in the top 15 every day of racing against the best 100 boys and 100 girls in the Western US. For the girls, Elisabeth Bocock knocked it out of the park with a victory in slalom and a fifth and second in giant slalom, while Maddie Welling raced to an impressive fifth in slalom and fifth, sixth, and 10th in giant slalom. Chloe Lathrop had a great series with an eighth, 10th, 13th, and 14th. Audrey Higgins-Lopez was impressive with an eighth, 10th, and 16th. Anna Davis was also fast with a 16th and 19th.

For boys, Ford Hodgkins grabbed a podium of his own with a third in slalom, as well as a 13th in slalom, and 14th in giant slalom. Jack Abuhaidar took eighth in giant slalom and 17th in slalom; Cam Prichard raced to eighth, 11th, and 16th; Frank Stearns finished 14th in slalom; and Preston Bolus and Ian Hanrahan both took home 15th-place finishes.

Alum News

We think it’s appropriate to give another shout-out to our four Olympian alums and to congratulate our newest NCAA Champion!

Four Rowmark Ski Academy Athletes Qualify for the 2022 Olympic Games, Bringing the Academy’s All-Time Olympian Total to 20 

We are proud of our four Olympians who qualified for February’s 2022 Olympic Games: Katie Hensien ’18 and Breezy Johnson ’13 (USA), Katie Vesterstein ’17 (Estonia), and Madi Hoffman ’18 (Australia). Since their earliest days on the mountain, these Olympians have been on a journey toward athletic excellence. Being named to their countries' Alpine ski teams is one of the highest honors of their careers and represents endless hours of sacrifice and a steady commitment to intense training and competition.

While four of Rowmark's former student-athletes qualified for the Games, only two were able to compete in Beijing. Except for an unfortunate injury two weeks prior to the Olympics in a World Cup training run in Cortina, Italy, Breezy was on that charted path, and heavily favored for a medal in the women's Olympic downhill, scheduled for February 15. Just a few days later, Madi injured her knee, knocking her out of the Games as well. While both Breezy and Madi sustained season-ending knee injuries while training for the Games, they nevertheless qualified for the Olympics, and we could not be prouder of them. Injury is a common reality in our sport, and the timing is devastating, but they will be back stronger than ever.

Katie Hensien and Katie Vesterstein went on to carry the Rowmark Ski Academy and Rowland Hall torch, and represented incredibly well. Congratulations to Katie Hensien, who charged to 26th in the Olympic slalom (starting 40th), and to Katie Vesterstein, who was 35th in the Olympic giant slalom (starting 62nd). Katie Vesterstein was impressive in her giant slalom race from a late-start position. She did not finish her first slalom run but was skiing great before she crashed out of the course. Katie Hensien had two excellent slalom runs to move into the top 30.

NCAA National Championships, Park City, Utah, March 9–12

Congratulations to Rowmark alum and current University of Denver student-athlete Katie Hensien ’18, who is the NCAA National Slalom Champion and the silver medalist in giant slalom! It has been quite a month for Katie, also a US Ski Team World Cup Team member who competed in her first Olympic Games in February.

Zoe Michael, who attended Rowmark/Rowland Hall from 2016 to 2018 and skis for the University of New Hampshire, was also an NCAA All-American, with a 10th in slalom, while Sophia Yubero ’17, a senior at Middlebury College, was 28th in slalom and 30th in giant slalom.

BACK TO THE FINISH LINE

Rowmark