Austin Dean, Lindsay Ahmann capture individual season championships
WENATCHEE — The Mission Ridge Ski Team was crowned the overall Northwest Cup team champion following the last races of the season season on Sunday.
It's the second consecutive year MRST has captured the team title, which goes to the program that accumulates the most points during a series of races during the season. MRST also won the overall men's and women's titles as well for the second year in a row.
Crystal Mountain finished second in all three categories.
Claiming individual Northwest Cup titles were Mission Ridge athletes Lindsay Ahmann (women's super-G) and Austin Dean (men's slalom).
MRST program director Ryan Shorter said it's rare for a program to win the three overall titles back-to-back because athletes come and go, and the competition is stiff.
"We compete against teams from bigger mountains who have way more kids to draw from, but we continue to out compete them," Shorter said. "Plus, we had whole bunch of injuries this year with several key athletes out."
This season, there were five Northwest Cup races, with stops at Mission Ridge, Schweitzer Mountain, Stevens Pass and Mount Bachelor (twice). The series attracts the top young ski racers (ages 14 to 21).
Other top 10 individual performances among MRST racers included Dean (2nd), Danny O'Neal (3rd), Max Tobler (4th), Andrew Black (6th), Paul Meyer (7th), Joseph Estrella (9th), Cai Yamamoto (10th) in the giant slalom; Estrella (3rd), Miles Sweek (4th), Black (5th) and Yamamoto (6th) in the slalom; O'Neal (5th), Black (6th) and Tobler (7th) in the super-G; Ahmann (2nd), Tessa Alger (4th) and Haley Hanseler (6th) in the giant slalom; Alger (4th), Ahmann (9th) and Gracie Struthers (10th) in the slalom; and Haley Hanseler (4th) in the super-G.
Northwest Cup Final Standings 2012-13 season Overall Team 1. Mission Ridge Ski Team 2. Crystal Mountain 3. Mount Bachelor 4. Stevens Pass 5. White Pass
Overall Men's Team 1. Mission Ridge Ski Team 2. Crystal Mountain 3. Stevens Pass 4. Mount Bachelor 5. White Pass
Overall Women's Team 1. Mission Ridge Ski Team 2. Crystal Mountain 3. Multnomah Athletic Club (Portland) 4. Team Alpental Snoqualmie 5. Mount Bachelor
Men's giant slalom 1. Keith McNabb, Crystal Mountain 2. Austin Dean, Mission Ridge Ski Team 3. Danny O'Neal, MRST 4. Max Tobler, MRST 5. Wilder Von Rohr, Mount Bachelor 6. Andrew Black, MRST 7. Paul Meyer, MRST 9. Joseph Estrella, MRST 10. Cai Yamamoto, MRST 19. Miles Sweek, MRST 25. Ben Holmberg, MRST 36. Fred Williams, MRST 38. Jacob DeRuwe, MRST
Men's slalom 1. Austin Dean, Mission Ridge Ski Team 2. Keith McNabb, Crystal Mountain 3. Joseph Estrella, MRST 4. Miles Sweek, MRST 5. Andrew Black, MRST 6. Cai Yamamoto, MRST 11. Alec Jones, MRST 13. Max Tobler, MRST 24. Danny O'Neal, MRST 26. Fred Williams, MRST 27. Ben Holmberg, MRST 33. Paul Meyer, MRST 44. Jacob DeRuwe, MRST
Men's super-G 1. Nicholas Wurden, Crystal Mountain 2. Keith McNabb, Crystal Mountain 3. Boomer Vuori, Stevens Pass 4. Grant Hamlin, Mount Hood 5. Danny O'Neal, Mission Ridge Ski Team 6. Andrew Black, MRST 7. Max Tobler, MRST 11. Austin Dean, MRST 20. Cai Yamamoto, MRST 28. Paul Meyer, MRST 30. Ben Holmberg, MRST 45. Jacob DeRuwe, MRST 47. Fred Williams, MRST 54. Miles Sweek, MRST
BEND, Ore. — Mission Ridge's Austin Dean swept to his third straight victory Sunday at the Northwest Cup Finals at Mount Bachelor — this time in the men's slalom — as his team placed eight racers in the top 15.
Dean, 18, had a combined time of 1 minute, 14.91 seconds for his two runs, just edging out teammate Miles Sweek, who came in second in 1:14.98. Sweek, in fact, had the fastest first run on the day but couldn't hold off Dean.
Mission Ridge's Cai Yamamoto, who came in second behind Dean in Friday's super-G and in Saturday's giant slalom, finished fourth on Sunday. He was joined by teammates Joseph Estrella (5th), Paul Meyer (7th), Andrew Black (11th), Travis Ahmann (13th), Danny O'Neal (14th) and Max Tobler (15th) in the top 15.
Meanwhile, in the women's giant slalom on Sunday, MRST's Lindsay Ahmann finished fourth and Tessa Alger fifth behind winner Anna Mounsey of Team Alpental Snoqualmie. For Ahmann, 16, it was her third straight top-10 finish at Northwest Cup Finals. On Friday, she took third in the super-G and followed that up with a sixth-place showing Saturday in the slalom.
Northwest Cup Finals Mount Bachelor, Ore. Sunday Men's slalom 1. Austin Dean, Mission Ridge Ski Team, 1:14.91 2. Miles Sweek, MRST, 1:14.98 3. Keith McNabb, Crystal Mountain, 1:16.23 4. Cai Yamamoto, MRST, 1:16.32 5. Joseph Estrella, MRST, 1:16.53 7. Paul Meyer, MRST, 1:17.58 11. Andrew Black, MRST, 1:18.61 13. Travis Ahmann, MRST, 1:18.77 14. Danny O'Neal, MRST, 1:18.92 15. Max Tobler, MRST, 1:19.03
Sunday Women's giant slalom 1. Anna Mounsey, Team Alpental Snoqualmie, 2:05.89 2. Karina Schwartznau, Crystal Mountain, 2:07.59 3. Kyla Miller, Sun Valley, 2:08.38 4. Lindsay Ahmann, Mission Ridge Ski Team, 2:09.05 5. Tessa Alger, MRST, 2:10.26
Eight MRST athletes finish in Top 10 in Saturday's two races
BEND, Ore — Mission Ridge teammates Austin Dean and Cai Yamamoto have a nice little rivalry going as the season winds down.
Just a day after finishing 1-2 in the super-G at the Northwest Cup Finals, Dean and Yamamoto repeated the same placings Saturday in the giant slalom.
Dean had the two fastest runs on the day, finishing with a combined time of 1 minute, 59.10 seconds. Yamamoto was clocked at 1:59.95. Crystal Mountain's Keith McNabb finished third with a time of 2:01.33.
The rest of Dean's and Yamamoto's teammates weren't far behind. Joseph Estrella was fourth, Miles Sweek came in fifth, Travis Ahmann ninth, Paul Meyer 11th and Andrew Black 14th.
The Mission Ridge Ski Team also impressed in the women's slalom Saturday with Taylor Bauernfeind coming in fifth, Lindsay Ahmann sixth and Hannah Bodily ninth. Tessa Alger (18th) and Mattie Wise (29th) rounded out the team's showing for the day.
The women's slalom was captured by Anna Mounsey of Team Alpental Snoqualmie.
The Northwest Cup Finals continue Sunday.
Northwest Cup Finals Mount Bachelor, Ore. Saturday Men's giant slalom 1. Austin Dean, Mission Ridge Ski Team, 1:59.10 2. Cai Yamamoto, MRST, 1:59.95 3. Keith McNabb, Crystal Mountain, 2:01.33 4. Joseph Estrella, MRST, 2:01.44 5. Miles Sweek, MRST, 2:02.27 9. Travis Ahmann, MRST, 2:03.12 11. Paul Meyer, MRST, 2:04.03 14. Andrew Black, MRST, 2:05.64
Dean, 18, had a combined time of 1 minute, 14.91 seconds for his two runs, just edging out teammate Miles Sweek, who came in second in 1:14.98. Sweek, in fact, had the fastest first run on the day but couldn't hold off Dean.