Whitefish's Nelson, Upton in championship form at YSL
Colter is better at the slalom. Liam is better at the giant slalom.
Both are great skiers.
The 10-year-old tandem have teamed up to dominate the podium all season for the Whitefish Mountain Race Team. This weekend they’ve been the star attraction at Whitefish Mountain Resort with a pair of podium finishes on the opening day of the Youth Ski League Championships.
“He wins GS, I win slalom,” Colter said.
“It kinda goes back and forth with the different events.”
The giant slalom was the first of three events run this weekend with Liam Nelson winning the event and Colter Upton finishing third. They were at it again Saturday in the slalom with Colter winning and Liam finishing fourth.
With about 170 kids from all over Montana racing, the two have taken advantage of the home course bump.
“It’s your hill, you’re more driven to make sure you do good,” Colter said.
“You know where it goes over, where it’s flatter.”
Liam, the older of the two, likes the giant slalom better because he can get more speed.
“I like bigger turns because you get more speed on the turns,” Liam said.
“In the slalom you have to lose some speed because you can get going too hard or too fast.”
Colter likely had the advantage on Saturday, preferring the more technical precision of the slalom.
“It’s easier for me to go back and forth,” he said.
Today, they’ll tackle the kombi, a mix of the two earlier disciplines.
“It’s different because you’ll be skiing big turns and getting speed, then all of a sudden you go into small turns,” Colter said. “Some kids slow down because they’re scared they’re gonna fall in the small turns.”
As far as who’s better on the final day, that is still to see.
“I’ve never done kombi,” Liam said. “He has. So we don’t know who’s better at that.”
The two 10-year-olds weren’t the only locals carving up the hills on the first day of competition.
Trey Nelson, a little guy in a red helmet running in the youngest age group, finished second in the giant slalom on Friday. Gardner Dominick, running in the 7-8 year-old group also finished with a silver medal. Dominick also finished second in the slalom on Saturday.
In a small group in the oldest age division, the Whitefish team swept the podium with Oliver Van Everen, Cameron Welch and Brittain Walton finishing 1-2-3 on their home course.
For the girls, Elizabeth Spradlin, skiing in the 5-6 group, finished second while Marina Kramer finished third in the 7-8 bracket.
Just like the boys, the Whitefish girls swept the top two spots in the oldest age group. Piper Howeth won the event and Kelly Shea finished second. A total of 26 athletes from the Whitefish Mountain Race Team are competing at this weekend’s event.
The kombi run begins today at 10 a.m. at Ed’s Run above Ed & Mully’s.
Youth Ski League Championships
Whitefish Mountain Resort
Friday
Giant Slalom
Boys
J-7 (5-6 year olds)
Place Name Club 1st run 2nd run Ttl Time
1 Gabriel Deschamp ND 58.37 59.05 1:57.42
2 Trey Nelson WMR 59.5 1:00.16 1:59.66
3 Espen Nyquist SRS 1:06.32 1:03.57 2:09.89
J-6 (7-8 year olds)
Place Name Club 1st run 2nd run Ttl Time
1 Walker Henyon BSF 49.31 52.10 1:41.41
2 Gardner Dominick WMR 52.00 51.79 1:43.79
3 Geno Leonard DSC 52.18 53.01 1:45.19
Also
4 Cameron Kahle WMR 55.02 53.47 1:49.49
8 Zane Elliott WMR 55.55 55.77 1:51.32
18 Henry Spradlin WMR 1:00.66 1:00.97 2:01.63
J-5 (9-10 year olds)
Place Name Club 1st run 2nd run Ttl Time
1 Liam Nelson WMR 50.90 49.55 1:40.45
2 Max Larimer DSC 51.37 50.99 1:42.36
3 Colter Upton WMR 51.37 51.11 1:42.48
Also
7 Ian Calaway WMR 52.51 53.04 1:45.55
10 Walt Hollensteiner WMR 53.07 53.81 1:46.88
14 Jonathan Mercer WMR 55.78 55.23 1:51.01
22 William Lewison WMR 1:04.55 55.74 2:00.29
J-4 (11-12 year olds)
Place Name Club 1st run 2nd run Ttl Time
1 Jacob Drake BSF 48.89 48.71 1:37.60
2 Jacques Eve BMRT 48.36 49.60 1:37.96
3 Curtis Williams MSEF 52.74 47.54 1:40.28
Also
21 Story Crossett WMR 56.49 54.25 1:50.74
J-3 (13-14 year olds)
Place Name Club 1st run 2nd run Ttl Time
1 Oliver Van Everen WMR 46.38 46.32 1:32.70
2 Cameron Welch WMR 50.35 48.73 1:39.08
3 Brittain Walton WMR 52.64 46.91 1:39.55
Girls
J-7
Place Name Club 1st run 2nd run Ttl Time
1 Skylar Manka BSS 58.80 1:00.26 1:59.06
2 Elizabeth Spradlin WMR 1:11.17 1:12.30 2:23.47
3 Chloe Unger BSS 1:25.75 1:20.62 2:46.37
J-6
Place Name Club 1st run 2nd run Ttl Time
1 Octavia Fisher BSF 52.44 54.04 1:46.48
2 Sofia Nyquist SRS 54.34 55.50 1:49.84
3 Marina Kramer WMR 54.27 56.52 1:50.79
Also
5 Mikaela Daniels WMR 59.46 58.62 1:58.08
8 Murial Mercer WMR 1:10.82 1:11.48 2:22.30
J-5
Place Name Club 1st run 2nd run Ttl Time
1 Reece Bell BSS 49.72 48.92 1:38.64
2 Riley Asbell BSF 49.21 50.41 1:39.62
3 Riki Poore SRS 50.10 49.93 1:40.03
Also
6 Stella Eddy WMR 54.55 53.84 1:48.39
20 Caroline Lecompte WMR 59.92 1:02.43 2:02.35
21 Anna Elm WMR 1:00.32 1:03.11 2:03.43
J-4
Place Name Club 1st run 2nd run Ttl Time
1 Julia Matelich BSF 46.61 45.25 1:31.86
2 Alexa Coyle BSS 46.04 46.07 1:32.11
3 Libby O’Donnell BSF 47.53 46.46 1:33.99
Also
12 Pixie Moore WMR 49.53 52.11 1:41.64
18 Kristen Van Everen WMR 53.71 52.52 1:46.23
J-3
Place Name Club 1st run 2nd run Ttl Time
1 Piper Howeth WMR 50.85 49.01 1:39.86
2 Kelly Shea WMR 54.21 53.24 1:47.45
3 Emma Bowen BSF 56.95 53.31 1:50.26