Sprint U.S. Freestyle Champs Set for 2009
The best freestyle skiers in the United States will be battling it out for U.S. titles at some of America's renown freestyle venues in the Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships. National titles will be on the line March 8 at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City for aerials and March 27-29 for moguls, dual moguls and halfpipe at California's Squaw Valley USA.
In addition, upright aerials athletes will compete in an expanded Junior Olympics event, open to all ages, at New Hampshire's Waterville Valley on March 14.
"The Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships are a great representation of the best of freestyle skiing. Our move to multiple venues will help the athletes in those respective competitions as each title event is hosted in a major freestyle hub from the East to the Intermountain to finishing up in the Western region of the country. Each stop has had an award winning freestyle program and will represent the country well," said U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Vice President of Events Calum Clark.
U.S. championships are a right of passage for aspiring freestyle skiers. The annual event matches the nation's best skiers including those on the U.S. Ski Team with young athletes coming up the pipeline vying for a place on the world stage. More than 200 athletes will compete.
Aerials at the UOP
Aerials will kick off the 2009 Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships with the opening title contest at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City, UT on Sunday, March 8. Since the Park was built in the early '90s, aerialists have taken advantage of the great training facility in summer and winter and find the Park to be a second home. Reigning 2008 U.S. champs Ryan St. Onge (Winter Park, CO) and Emily Cook (Belmont, MA) will look to retain their titles, with returning veteran Jeret "Speedy" Peterson (Boise, ID) fresh off a big World Cup win in Lake Placid, NY.
"The Utah Olympic Park is a great partner of the USSA and freestyle skiing," said Clark. "It's a world-class venue with great facilities and staff to host an incredible competition for athletes and spectacular viewing for fans. The UOP is a first-class venue year-round. It already has a site prepared and it is easy for athletes, officials and fans to get to."
Younger athletes doing upright aerials (non-inverted) have traditionally been ranked within the regular aerial competition. This year, those athletes will have their own competition as a part of the 2009 Junior Olympics at Waterville Valley, NH, Saturday, March 14. With a vast majority of upright aerial competitors competing at the Junior Olympics, the USSA opened the competition to invite 18 year olds and older to compete in a national non-title event, with results being scored to the national ranking list.
"Upright aerials are an important part of the development pipeline for freestyle aerials," said Clark. "It actually provides developing athletes with an even greater opportunity to showcase their skills against their peers in the expanded Junior Olympic field at Waterville Valley, home of one of our top USSA club programs with a strong freestyle tradition."
Waterville Valley has long been a hotbed of freestyle aerial development under noted coach Nick Preston. The program has produced a stream of top national team athletes, including 1998 Olympic aerial champion Nikki Stone.
Moguls and Pipe at Squaw Valley USA
Squaw Valley USA will round-out the U.S. championships lineup the end of the month with moguls, dual moguls and skier halfpipe the weekend of March 27-29. The Olympic Valley Freestyle and Freeride Team will undertake the local organization of the event working together with USSA and the venue to prepare a top-notch moguls course and halfpipe. Reigning U.S. champions Mike Morse (moguls and duals; Duxbury, MA), Emiko Torito (moguls; Steamboat Springs, CO) and Michelle Roark (duals; Denver) are expected to challenge bump skiers looking for 2009 titles, including World Cup leader Hannah Kearney (Norwich, VT).
Skier halfpipe made its U.S. championships debut in 2006 when Jen Hudak (Park City, UT) and David Wise (Caldwell, ID) won the inaugural titles. They have kept beating the competition ever since retaining their titles each year. Halpipe attracted a large and strong field of U.S. competitors at the recent Visa Freestyle International World Cup at Park City Mountain Resort. It is anticipated that the competition will gain a notch with this year's event at Squaw Valley.
"Squaw Valley has such a rich Olympic history and it is nice to end the competitive season in Tahoe among many friends and family of freestyle skiing. We look forward to a great month of high quality competition for the Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships," said Clark.
The Tahoe area has produced some of the best freestyle skiers including 1998 Olympic moguls champion Jonny Moseley and 2002 Olympic moguls silver medalist Shannon Bahrke (South Lake Tahoe, CA).
The high flying action of the Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships will be televised on the cable station Versus on Saturday, April 4 at 5 p.m. ET and Saturday, April 11 at 4 p.m. ET. Air dates and times are subject to change, please check local listings.
2009 Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships schedule:
March 8 - Aerials title events at Utah Olympic Park in Park City, UT
March 14 – Upright aerials at Waterville Valley, NH
March 27-29 – Moguls, dual moguls and skier halfpipe title events at Squaw Valley, CA
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Sprint U.S. Freestyle Champs Set for 2009
