MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. - The University of Maine at Farmington snowsports teams have battled with snow, winds, and ever changing schedules to make the most out of their experience at the USCSA National Championships.
Originally scheduled to begin on Tuesday, March 7th, Mammoth Mountain received a severe snow and windstorm that caused events to be postponed on Tuesday and result in a massive restructuring of the entire National Championship schedule.
The USCSA restructured the schedule, moving the nordic 7.5k classic to take place on Tuesday afternoon. In that event, Farmington's women's nordic team took 10th place. Ayla Bodach-Turner (East Montpelier, Vermont) finished 24th overall with a time of 37:45.8. Jenna Badeau finished 30th in 38:38.5. Mullein Francis (Hinesburg, Vermont) came in 42nd place in 41:09.8.
On Wednesday, events for alpine, nordic, and snowboarding were all scheduled to take place. The alpine teams went through course inspections and was set to begin slalom, but was forced again to be pushed back a day due to weather.
Nicholas Baubonis (Bucksport, Maine) was able to compete in the snowboard cross on Wednesday after the schedule change. Baubonis came in 36th place with a time of 1:23.21. He was the only freeski/snowboard athlete to compete in the event.
The 1.5K nordic skate sprints were able to take place as well where Bodach-Turner grabbed the 1st silver medal at that National Championships for a nordic skier in UMaine-Farmington history.
Thursday was able to run without a hitch as both men's and women's alpine, women's nordic, and freeski/snowboard were all able to compete in their scheduled events. However, due to the postponements and adjustments of schedules, what was once supposed to be a two run slalom event, was changed to a one run slalom event to allow both men and women the ability to compete.
In women's alpine, Lauren Kessen (Sussex, Wisc.), Grace Mahmood (Oxford, Conn.), Hokulani Caroselli (Temple, Maine), Tegan Andrew (Goffstown, N.H.), and Fallon Smith (Nelson, N.H.) all competed for the Beavers. Kessen finished with a time of 55.18 seconds. Mahmood was the next fastest Beavers, finishing in 59.81 seconds. Caroselli finished just behind Mahmood with a time of 59.96 seconds. Andrew and Smith finished with very similar times as Andrew finished in 1:05.66 and Smith in 1:05.91.
In men's alpine, Simon Spear (Boothbay, Maine), Sam Roy (Frenchville, Maine), Lance Dolan (Coplin Plantation, Maine), Colgan O'Keefe (Westchester, N.Y.), and Lake Lindelof (Belfast, Maine) put together strong performances for the Beavers. Spear had a top-20 finish, coming in 17th overall, finishing in 46.44 seconds. Roy had a strong run as well, finishing in 47.31 seconds and placing 26th place. Dolan was the 3rd Beaver across the finish line, finishing with a time of 52.20 seconds. O'Keefe finished his run in 57.36 seconds. Lindelof finished in 1:01.69.
In the women's nordic 15k classic, Bodach-Turner once again placed inside the top-10. This time she finished 8th overall with a time of 49:19.78. Badeau finished in 57:47.22 to take 34th place. Francis was 37th overall with a time of 58:29.30.
In the freeski slopestyle event, Ryan Brueninghaus finished inside the top-10 with a 6th place finish, scoring 88 points in his run. Carson Theriault finished 14th overall, scoring 62 points in his lone run. Cooper Kucera scored a 50 in his run. As a team, Brueninghaus, Theriault, and Kucera finished 4th overall as a team.
In the snowboard slopestyle event, Ezra Mathieu was the lone Beaver to compete, registering a 42 in his single run.
Mammoth Mountain is anticipating more storms today and through the weekend. Updates will be provided as they are made available.
