Middle:  WVBBTS Freestyle athletes and coaches gather round at the Freestyle US Nationals last weekend at Killington to celebrate Sophie Schwartz's silver medal in Women's Halfpipe.

Bottom:  Brett Stein of WVA on telemark skis at one of his recent competitions. Brett was the National Champion in GS for Telemark

From our CEO-Peter Stokloza

• Spring has arrived and the snow is almost gone.  BBTS has had another great season with its athletes and coaches achieving their goals and reassessing the ones not met.  As an organization we are in that process.  My staff and I are currently evaluating all of our programs and activities in an effort to continue to improve what we are and how we are doing business.  During the season we have seen some great events and some difficult times.  Through it all we have all gained more resolve and experience for the years to come.  We are making every effort to provide the best snows sport organization and welcome your comments and feedback concerning the past year.

• I want to thank all the valued members of BBTS along with the athletes and staff. We together will continue to make Waterville a great place for academics, competitive snow sports and training.

• I hope to see you at the BASH!

          Pete

From the Desk of Director of Development and Communications-Sharon Schmidt

·         2005/2006 Annual Giving Campaign Update

o        We have collected $60, 927 against our goal of $81,600 for the 2005/2006 Annual Giving Campaign, which puts us at 74.5% of goal.  Thank you so much for your support!

o        We hope to be able to announce that we have achieved our goal by this Saturday evening, April 1 at the WVBBTS Year End Bash.  If you have not yet made a contribution to the Annual Giving Campaign, please click here to donate or call me with a credit card number and the amount of your donation at 978-621-8738.  Click here for how these funds are being used to have had a direct and immediate impact on our athletes this season.

o        Trying to think of a nice year end thank you for a coach?  Consider making a donation to the Annual Giving Campaign in recognition of that coach.  The coach will receive a personalized letter from BBTS letting him or her know that a donation has been made to WVBBTS in recognition of his or her efforts and this letter may contain a personalized message from you and your family.

·         Alpine Apparel Orders Due April 1

o        Please remember that all alpine apparel orders must be in by Saturday, April 1 at the Year End Bash.  I will have samples in the Clubhouse and at the Bash on Saturday.

From our Freestyle Director-Nick Preston

• U.S. Freestyle Championships were held this past week in Killington, Vermont in a perfectly laid out venue that included a halfpipe,  a 24 degree mogul course, and a FIS spec aerial site, all at the base of Bear Mountain, just steps away from the base lodge. Wow, what a scene, especially when up to 5000 covered the Bear Lodge deck and lined the outstanding courses to see the best freestylers in the country.

• Thursday, March 23, opened the competition with Half pipe. Waterville girls stole the limelight as all 3 qualified for the final round of 6 competitors. Sophia Schwartz placed 2^nd displaying her spectacular ability to boost out of the pipe. Allison Lee finished 4^th and Calli DeGrace 5^th.

• Friday was Mogul day. The field included Waterville US Team members Kayla Snyderman, Tim Preston, Dave Babic, and Olympian Hannah Kearney. Also qualifying for the event were Allison Lee, Kenna Nash, Sophia Schwartz, Kiersten Adams, and Calli DeGrace.

• By days end, Dave Babic and Hannah Kearney were crowned mens and womens U.S. Mogul Champions. Tim Preston took 4^th in the mens and Kayla 10^th in the womens as US Team members proved invincible among the field.

• Our club’s girls skied their hearts out with results as follows:

Kenna Nash    20^th

Allison Lee     31^st

Calli DeGrace  33^rd

Kiersten Adams48th

• Saturday was Aerials, including a field well peppered with WVA/BBTS skiers.  This is an event never far out of reach for any Waterville aerialist, where in front of a crowd estimated at 5000, these Waterville Skiers flipped and twisted in a display of their best air of the season.

          Kate Reed, US Ski Team      US Women’s Aerial Champion

          Allison Lee                         7^th

          Sophia Schwartz                16^th

          Alissa Pinkoski          19^th

          Sierra Starr                       21

          Dylan Ferguson                  6^th

          Scott Kiesel                       12^th

          Billy Edwards                     22^nd

• US Championships finished with the Dual Mogul event where, once again, mastery was on display as Hannah Kearney “schooled” the women’s field on her way to her second championship title. Dave Babic finished one run from the win, finishing 2^nd to a young talent from far west, Sho Kashima.

• Again, congratulations to all our U.S. Championship athletes. I would also like to acknowledge the highly expert coaching from Wes Preston in aerials, Rob Day and Mike Macomber on the mogul course. And a special thanks to the coaching assistance we had from Alicia Cavanaugh (what a great half pipe coach!), and to US Team aerialist Lance Field, who chimed in as start coach for our team in aerials. Those Waterville coach jackets, sweatshirts, and baseball shirts made a powerful presence as to how 4 out of 6 championship titles are made to happen. It’s called great coaching!

Freestyle News 3/22/06

1 Week  – 10 Championship Titles

plus…..2 Top Americans at World Cup Finals

• March Madness, the freestyle kind, witnessed an unprecedented level of competitive productivity from any club or academy ever! And that club/academy is us!!!

The tally is:

At USSA Junior Olympics held in Park City March 15-18:

Half Pipe:

Sophia Schwartz: JO Womens Champion

Mike Clarke:   3^rd in Mens’

Dual Moguls:

Kenna Nash:   4^th

Kayla Snyderman:     5^th

Slopestyle:

Dylan Ferguson:3^RD

Mike Clarke:   4^th

Aerials:

Dylan Ferguson:       JO Mens Champion

Allison Lee:              JO Womens Champion

Moguls:

Kayla Snyderman      JO Womens  Champion

Combined:

Allison Lee               JO Womens  Champion

Sophia Schwartz       3^rd

Mike Clarke              4^th

At USSA-Eastern Qualification Series Championships held at Whiteface, New York

Moguls, March 18

Nic Dziemian            Mens Champion

Nessa Dziemian         2^nd in Womens

Hunt Adams             6^th in Mens

Cody DeGrace          8^th in Mens

Kyle DeGrace           9^th in Mens

Big Air, March 19

          Clayton Vila             Mens Champion

          Nessa Dziemian         Womens Champion

          Kyle Keating             3^rd Mens

          Tyler Thistle            4^th Mens

          Brendan Wall            6^th Mens

          Julia Braunstein        7^th Womens

          Nic Dzienian             10^th Mens

Combined

          Nic Dziemian            Mens Champion

          Nessa Dziemian         Womens Champion

          Kyle Keating             3^rd Mens

          Kyle DeGrace           5^th Mens

          Hunt Adams             7^th Mens

          Cody DeGrace          8^th Mens

Philip Holmes Award: Awarded to the top J 3,J4,or J5 in the East

          Nic Dziemian

Apex World Cup Freestyle Finals

          Hannah Kearney       3^rd , Top American

          Tim Preston             5^th, Top American

What an amazing batch of results! Is it the talent and dedication of the athletes, the outstanding coaching, the club, Academy, the parents (plenty of good genes)?  I’d say it’s all of it wrapped up into one week of freestyle’s own March Madness!!!

On a final note, my apologies to Frohman Anderson,  an outstanding EQS mogul skier and competitor I had omitted from my acknowledgements of the team in the last newsletter. Frohm, keep up the great skiing, watch out for the last 2 moguls in the course next time out, and you’ll get that podium we all know is in your reach!

On to the Vermont Freeskiing Open. Stay tuned for more news and more madness (the really cool kind).

See you all at the banquet.

Nick Preston

From our Athletic and Alpine Director-Tom Barbeau

• Firstly, I would like to apologize to the Piche Racers as we did not have a coach at Gunstock for them. A miscommunication on the coaches’ part and we are sorry. However, it was not surprising that the athletes were strong enough to handle themselves very well; Nika Mosenthal and Willie Glennon had 1^st places, Alex Katz had a 2^nd, Grace Glennon and Henry Tomlinson finished 4^th and Jayme Gough had a 6^th place finish.

• Two things within the last couple of weeks which help to make a great year. We had a training day on Lower Sels which included a Masters’ Racer, three J2’s, a few J3’s, one J4, one J5 and a group of the Snowboard Racers. So much fun and camaraderie (besides the variety for me and Coach Lorin). Then this past week we had a Retro Day in which the Racers dressed in their best 70’s gear and we trained bamboo. Lots of laughing.

More Results:

J1/2

USA National Championships: Nick Baker 10^th DH#1, 11^th DH#2, 16^th Super-G; Todd Thibodeau 21^st DH#1, 18^th DH#2, 17^th Super-G; Mark Mikos 25^th DH#1, 22^nd DH#2, 29^th Super-G; Kamden Burke 38^th DH#2

National J2 GS Championship: Erin Fucigna 20^th

Canadian National J2 Championship: Maddy Packard 9th and 14^th in SL and 16th and 21^st in GS (Maddy also scored a 60 point result in a FIS Spring Race, FAST); Kia Mosenthal 11^th SL and 23^rd GS; Ali Ewanouski 16^th SL; Nate Bryant 12^th SL

Spring Series SL Cannon: Ashley Hawes 4^th;Katy Belanger 9^th; Neil Hansen 5^th; George Packard 7^th

Spring Series GS Waterville Valley: Catherine Warchal 3^rd; Ashley Hawes 7^th; Mark Mikos 1^st; Nick Baker 3^rd; Andrew Hawes 4^th

MJ GS Waterville Valley: Abby Fucigna 6^th (as a J3); Todd Thibodeau 7^th; Kamden Burke 8^th

Spring Series SL Dartmouth: Maddy Packard 3^rd; Katy Belanger 6^th; August Felix 7^th

Spring Series SL Loon: Erin Fucigna 2^nd; Ashley Hawes 5^th;Katy Belanger 7^th; Abby Fucigna 9^th; George Packard 3^rd; Andrew Hawes 4^th; Julian Jacobson 5^th; August Felix 10^th

Spring Series GS Wildcat: Andrew Hawes 3^rd; Neil Hansen 9^th

Spring Series GS Attitash: : Maddy Packard 3^rd; Abby Fucigna 9^th; Neil Hansen 9^th

Eastern High School Champs: Kia Mosenthal 2^nd; Abby Clark 4^th

US National Telemark Champs: Brett Stein-overall a podium finish in the combined with a 3rd. Summary: National Champion G.S., 2nd in Sprint Classic, 5th in Classic, 6th in SL.  First teen to win a discipline. CONGRATULATIONS!

Masters:

Sise Cup-Dave Wolff is the overall Sise Cup winner (how would you like to race with our J1/2’s?); Klaus Haas - Third in Class 9;

Larry Young - Third in Class 10; Virginia Petrie - Second in Class 9; Kim Wolff-5th overall for the women and first in Class 5.

US National Masters Championships:  We did very well here.

Kim Wolff had a 2^nd in the Super-G, a 3^rd in the GS and was 1^st in the Combined (Congrats). Birdie Britton was 2^nd in the GS and 4^th in the SL. Dave Wolff was 4^th Super-G, 6^th SL and 6^th Combined. Larry Young was 4^th Super-G, 3^rd GS, 5^th SL and 4^th Combined (good week). Klaus Haas was 7^th Super-G, 2^nd GS, 2^nd Sl and 3^rd Combined (it must be the Austria blood).

J3/4/5

Shawnie Peak Cup: Zack Ziolkowski 1^st place, GREAT JOB

Open GS Dartmouth:

J5’s: Macaela Wright 3^rd; Teagan Mosenthal 6^th; Elena Tomlinson 8^th; Henry Tomlinson 1^st; Jay Kraunelis 5^th; Dan Lannan 6^th; Ryan Schmidt 9^th

J4’s: Alice Anastasia 8^th; Annie D’Elia 10^th; Sam Macomber 2^nd; Adam Dropkin 5^th; Mike Bancroft 9^th

J3’s: Nika Mosenthal 1^st; Devon Wright 1^st; Carter White 3^rd; Mike Driscoll 10^th

Open SL Cannon: Jamie Crane-Mauzy 1^st; Macaela Wright 1^st; Grace Glennon 2^nd; Lindasy Todaro 3^rd; Chase Ennis 1^st; Mike Bancroft 4^th

Open GS Dan Bean Waterville Valley:

J5’s: Macaela Wright 1st; Jeanee Crane-Mauzy 3^rd;  Teagan Mosenthal 8^th;; Torey Brooks 10^th; Henry Tomlinson 1^st; Dan Lannan 6^th; Ryan Schmidt 8^th

J4’s: Eliza Cowie 1^st; Kerry Daigle 2^nd; Alice Anastasia 3^rd; Annie D’Elia 4^th; Lindsay Todaro 7^th; Katie Kraunelis 8^th; Berkley Singer 10^th; Brian McLaughlin 1^st; Adam Dropkin 2^nd; Mike Sampson 3^rd; Mike Bancroft 5^th; Pete French 6^th; Zack Ziolkowski 7^th

J3’s: Nika Mosenthal 1^st; Chelsea Stevens 3^rd; Jayme Gough 4^th; Jamie Crane-Mauzy 5^th; Erica Hamlin 6^th; Amanda Engelhardt 7^th; Lindsay Peterman 8^th; Katie Finocchiaro 9^th; Helen Anderson 10th; Allison Grace 10^th;  Devon Wright 2^nd; Willie Glennon 6^th

J4 Shootout Sugarbush: Eliza Cowie 17^th and 17^th; Brian McLaughlin 2^nd; Garrett Quimby 6^th and 4^th; Sam Macomber 6^th and 7^th; Adam Dropkin 18^th and 21^st; Drew Stefanic 21^st and 25^th, Mike Sampson 20^th

J3 Olympics Lake Placid: Jamie Crane-Mauzy 13^th GS, Abby Fucigna 4^th Super-G, 7^th GS and 3^rd SL. This earned Abby a trip to represent the USA at the Canadian National J3 Champs in Tremblant, Quebec. CONGRATULATIONS

From our Snowboard Director-Bill Enos

Red Bull schooled

• Two Sundays ago WVA competed in the Red Bull Schooled.  Timmy Humphreys, Scott Kuchinski, Ian Hart and Milli Chapman made up team WVA. Each team has a snowboarder, a snowboarder /skateboarder, a female that snowboards and a skater. Timmy did back to back 9’s and slayed the picnic tables to win the snowboard side of the competition. Scott finished third with 2 clean runs. Milli finished third for the girls with two nice runs even though she was throwing up hours earlier. For skating Scott K. took an impressive third and Ian had some high difficulty tricks in his run to finish 6^th . Our team was awesome-we just came up a little short. SMS took the title back, with some unbelievable skating/ they are way better at skating than snowboarding. Well being the champs for one year was nice.

Bill