The team competed this season in two competitive pipelines, The United States of America Snowboard Association (USASA) and the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA). USASA has a growing number of talented youth competing in their skier divisions.
USASA held their pinnacle event, Nationals, at Copper Mountain in Colorado, March 30 to April 4. Sugarbush Freestyle was proud to send 10-year-old Dylan Ward of Calais, VT, to compete in the slope-style event for the boys 10-and-under skier division.
Ward qualified for nationals after winning in the Northern Vermont Series, taking top honors convincingly at all three of the events he entered. Competing with 22 of the nation's most talented boys 10-and-under at Copper Mountain, Ward put down an outstanding second run to come home with the gold.
The USSA skiers competed in the Eastern Qualifier Series (EQS) representing the Central Region (VT). Competitors tested their skills at six qualifiers on the road to Regional Finals held February 7 to 9 at Mount Snow. Regionals hosted the top 31 girls and 56 boys ages 15 and under.
Sugarbush Freestyle team members Lauren McDonough, Jack Power, Hobey Weston, Cole Derrick, Berkley Stone and Sam Greshin all qualified for the event in moguls. McDonough, Stone and Derrick also qualified for aerials, while Stone and Derrick competed in slope style as well. Even though Sugarbush had the smallest team, Stone and Derrick brought home the third-place team trophy for combined weekend results.
The top event for the USSA EQS is Eastern Championships. This year's event was held at Bristol Mountain, Bristol, New York, March 7 to 9. Eastern Championships brought together 90 of the top skiers to compete in three disciplines moguls, slope style and aerials.
Based on points earned through the season and results from Regional Finals, Sugarbush sent three athletes to Bristol. Sam Greshin, Berkley Stone and Cole Derrick qualified for moguls, while Stone and Derrick qualified for aerials and slope style as well.
The big story was Sam Greshin's convincing win in the moguls. Greshin, skiing his best line in record time and throwing his cleanest airs of the season, brought home the gold.
In a very competitive field, Berkley Stone posted a strong 8th-place finish and Cole Derrick placed 58th. Stone and Derrick hit the air in the slope-style and aerials competitions. In slope style, Stone earned 8th and Derrick, 15th. In the aerials Derrick took 5th and Stone 39th.
Overall awards were given to recognize athletes competing in all three disciplines. Cole Derrick came home with 9th overall and Berkley Stone with 10th place.
The Sugarbush Freestyle program focuses on developing young skiers and riders who want to learn freestyle fundamentals on up to the competitive athletes refining their skills on regional, national and international levels.
Coaches focus on basic fundamentals of all mountain, mogul, slope-style and aerials skiing and riding. The Sugarbush Freestyle team meets every weekend from early December through the end of March and has the opportunity to train with the Harwood Freeride Team two afternoons a week. For more information regarding the Sugarbush Freestyle Team please visit Sugarbush.com.
