Local racers dominate telemark nationals

Local ski racers brought home top honors from the U.S. Telemark National Championships last weekend at Schweitzer Mountain in Sandpoint, Idaho.

Natalie Angell, a Whitefish racer attending school at the University of Montana, won the women's overall title, followed by Carrie Johnson, also of Whitefish, in second place. Heidi Fehlhaber, looking to secure a spot on the U.S. women's telemark team, captured fifth place in the women's overall.

Reid Sabin, a two-time national gold medalist and former world champion, placed second in the men's overall division. Other top winners from Big Mountain were Glenn Gustafson, fourth; Eric Lamb, fifth; Kris Carpenter, sixth; Neil Persons, seventh; Peter McMahon, ninth; Jef Elliott, 11th, and Tim Heitz, 15th.

In the junior division, David Hobbs of Whitefish, 16, placed second in the men's overall, followed by his younger brother, Willie, 13, in third place. Jessica Conrad, 17, also from Whitefish, placed second in the women's open division. In the men's open, Tom Healy of Whitefish placed second; Austin Troiano, 17, was third, Marc Blanden of Columbia Falls was sixth, and Chris Wambeke of Whitefish was eighth.

The racers competed in four events: the slalom, giant slalom, classic and sprint classic. In the giant slalom and classic events, racers not only go through gates, but also must go over a jump and fly a minimum distance of 35 to 60 feet. They must also land in a telemark position, with one foot behind the other. There also is a skating section at the bottom of the classic courses. Racers take two runs in each event, except for the sprint classic, where there is only one run.

Tim Rice, who formerly trained at Big Mountain but now lives in Bartlett, New Hampshire, was the king of the hill, winning every race, and six of seven runs.

Local racers dominated the giant slalom, with four top-10 finishes, including Gustafson at fourth, Lamb in fifth, Carpenter at sixth, Elliott at seventh and Persons rounding out the pack at 10th. Heitz finished 11th.

In the classic, local racers again dominated, taking six of the top-10 spots in the men's elite division. Racing in his second year at nationals, 16-year old David Hobbs of Whitefish won the title, beating Drew Hauser by only .48 seconds.

In the men's open division of the classic, Healy, Wambeke, Austin Troiano and Blanden took third, fourth, fifth and seventh places, respectively.

In the slalom, which was characterized as a steep course at top and flatter on the bottom, Sabin placed second, Persons was fifth, McMahon was sixth, and Lamb seventh.

Heitz was 12th and Elliott 15th.

The slalom course was tough on Carpenter and Gustafson. Each racer fell in their second runs and did not finish.

The race at Schweitzer Mountain capped the season for many of the Montana racers, most of whom will be traveling to Norway later this month for the world championships.

Next year's national championships will be at Big Mountain in Whitefish, while there is one World Cup race scheduled at Schweitzer. Local racing continues with Montana telemark series this weekend at Snowbowl in Missoula.

Event by event results (including first place and local racers, only)

SLALOM

Women's Elite: 1. Larissa Pitton, Cochrane, AB; 2. Natalie Angell, Missoula, 1:38.81; 3. Carrie Johnson, Whitefish, 1:47.07; 6. Heidi Fehlhaber, Whitefish, 1:51.00.

Men's Elite: 1. Chris Rice, Bartlett, N.H., 1:21.02; 2. Reid Sabin, Whitefish, 1:23.33; 3. Matt Beedle, Boulder Colo., 1:25.26; 5. Neil Persons, Whitefish 1:@9.73; 6. Peter McMahon, Whitefish, 1:30.56; 7. Eric Lamb, Whitefish, 1:30.75; 12. Tim Heitz, Whitefish, 1:34.48; 14. Jef Elliott, Whitefish, 1:36.69

Junior Elite: 1. Drew Hauser, Dillon, Colo., 1:30.56; 2. David Hobbs, Whitefish, 1:38.08; 3. Willie Hobbs, Whitefish, 2:04.91

Men's Open: 1. Trevor Eastman, Spokane, 1:49.73; 2. Tom Healy, Whitefish, 1:51.81

SPRINT CLASSIC

Women's Elite: 1. Larissa Pitton, 2:41.51; 2. Natalie Angell, 2:55.27; 3. Carrie Johnson, 2:57.39; 4. Heidi Fehlhaber, 3:02.73

Men's Elite: 1. Chris Rice, 2:!5.43; 2. Reid Sabin, 2:21.33; 4. Glenn Gustafson, 2:24.84; 5. Matt Beedle, 2:27.40; 7. Peter McMahon, 2:32.48; 10. Eric Lamb, 2:33.37; 12. Neil Persons, 2:36.06; 13. Tim Heitz, 2:36.54; 15 Jef Elliott, 2:38.92

Men's Junior Elite: 1. Drew Hauser, 2:38.06; 2. Willie Hobbs, 3:20.98

Women's Open: 1. Amy Klepetar, Salt Lake City, 3:20.78; Jessica Conrad, 3:43.79

Men's Open: 1. Trevor Eastman, 2:45.50; 2. Tom Healy, 3:00.56; 3. Marc Blanden, 3:09.03.; Austin Troiano, Whitefish, 3:28.37

CLASSIC

Women's elite: 1. Larissa Pitton, 2:10.06; Carrie Johnson, 2:17.17; 3. Natalie Angell, 2:19.62; 6. Heidi Fehlhaber, 2:30.63

Men's elite: 1. Chris Rice, 1:44.63; 2. Reid Sabin, 1:46.10; 3. Glenn Gustafson, 1:47.63; 4. Eric Lamb, 1:51.81; 6. Kris Carpenter, 1:54.57; 8. Jeff Elliott, 1:55.88; 10. Neil Persons, 1:57.15; 12. Tim Heitz, 1:57.90; 13. Peter McMahon, 1:58.93

Junior elite: 1. David Hobbs, 2:00.28; 3. Willie Hobbs, 2:38.22

Women's open: 1. Lisa Gerber, 2:40.55; 2. Jessica Conrad, 2:48.76

Men's open: 1. Trevor Eastman, 2:06.31; 2. Tony Troiano, 2:06.63; 3. Tom Healy, 2:07.42; 4. Chris Wambeke, 2:26.31; 5. Austin Troiano, 2:30.33; 7. Marc Blanden, 2:48.88

GIANT SLALOM

Women's elite: 1. Larissa Pitton, 1:39.43; Natalie Angell, 1:40.99; Carrie Johnson, 1:44.66; 6. Heidi Fehlhaber, 1:51.14

Men's elite: 1. Chris Rice, 1:27.35; 4. Glenn Gustafson, 1:32.19; 5. Eric Lamb, 1:33.84; 6. 1:34.39; 7. Jef Elliott, 1:34.79; 10. Neil Persons, 1:37.22; 11. Tim Heitz, 1:40.10; 20. Reid Sabin, 1:51.07; Peter McMahon, dnf.

Junior elite: 1. Drew Hauser, 1:34.05; 2. David Hobbs, 1:41.22; 3. Willie Hobbs, 1:57.92

Men's open: 1. Trevor Eastman, 1:44.76; 4. Marc Blanden, 2:00.66; 5. Austin Troiano, 2:13.75