Wildcat Women and Men take top six in slalom
BIWABIK, Minn. — The NMU alpine ski teams controlled the slopes in a jam-packed day that featured both the giant slalom and slalom. The women’s and men’s teams swept both podiums, respectively, along with dominating a majority of the top spots.
In a condensed one-day event after having to cancel races on Saturday, the teams raced the giant slalom in the morning and the slalom in the evening. In both the GS and SL, the top three ‘A’ team times would count toward your team’s scoring, while individuals could still podium as members of the ‘B’ team.
The teams fought through frigid temperatures, as the temperature dipped into double-digit negative temperatures, with feels-like temperatures near and around -20.
The women finished first with a combined time of 3:12.61 in the giant slalom, and found a tie atop the podium with Kaylee Byrne and Tommie Springer each posting a combined result of 1:04.13. Onalee Wallis earned bronze and rounded out the team scoring at 1:04.35. The Wildcats claimed nine of the top 10 finishes, respectively.
The men finished first with a combined time of 3:03.02 in their respective giant slalom, led by a gold medal from Anthony Petkov at 1:00.82. Eli Heathman, who was competing on the ‘B’ team, earned silver with his time of 1:00.96 and was just 0.01 seconds ahead of Reed Heathman in third. Noah Bindas (1:01.23) rounded out the team scoring, and the ‘Cats claimed eight of the top nine spots.
The slalom was stopped after the first run due to daylight, as the hill closed at 4 p.m. local time and is not equipped with lights. The scoring would be based off of one result instead of a combined two.
The women owned the top six finishes, led by Ashley Schaffer (39.24) as the only skier on the women’s side to race a sub-40 run. Springer earned her second medal of the day with a silver (40.15), and Byrne would earn another podium finish with bronze (40.24).
The men claimed the top six finishes, and eight of the top ten, led by Kyan Hopke with gold (33.84), silver for R. Heathman (34.48), and bronze for Cashton Jaeger (35.05).
How It Happened
Women’s Giant Slalom – Results
It was a controlling first run for the women, who claimed the top three times going into run two with Springer (31.73), Wallis (32.00), and Byrne (32.00). Spots four through nine were held by Cassidy Whitener (32.65), Georgette Sake (32.75), Schaffer (32.85), Blanca Srock (32.90), Maddy Stern (32.91), and Maya Bubolz (32.94).
The second run was much of the same, as Byrne (32.13), Schaffer (32.23), Wallis (32.35), Springer (32.40), and Stern (32.78) posted the top five times, followed by Srock (33.30), Whitener (33.30), and Bubolz (33.34) posting the seventh, eighth, and ninth quickest times in the second run.
Men’s Giant Slalom – Results
The men dominated the first run, holding eight of the nine first-run result times heading into the second run. Anthony Petkov (30.80), Reed Heathman (30.84), and Eli Heathman (30.92) were the only racers to post sub-31-second times. Spots four through nine belonged to Noah Bindas (31.11), Hopke (31.17), Jaeger (31.17), Nathan DeHart (31.44), and Connor Abraham (31.63).
The ‘Cats controlled the top of the leaderboard in run two as well, claiming eight of the top nine times, with the top six all within 0.13 seconds of each other: Petkov (30.02), E. Heathman (30.04), Bindas (30.12), Dehart (30.13), R. Heathman (30.13), and Hopke (30.15). Jaeger (30.59), Abraham (30.66), and Mitchell Forsberg (30.86) rounded out the top-performing ‘Cats in the second run.
Women’s Slalom – Results
The women laid claim to the top six times in the first result, led by Schaffer at 39.24. The next five belonged to Springer (40.15), Byrne (40.24), Srock (40.49), Stern (41.22), and Wallis (41.42).
Men’s Slalom – Results
The ‘Cats carried momentum into the slalom, where the team owned the top six times after the first result, those being Hopke (33.84), R. Heathman (34.48), Jaeger (35.05), Petkov (35.24), E. Heathman (35.31), and Bindas (35.74). Forsberg (36.60), Abraham (36.70), and Dehart (37.23) added solid runs.
