 Aubuchon Flaming leaves '99 October 9-10, 1999 Doran Wins; Women's International Field Shines
In the Junior Class Ben Erlandsen won handily with two long jumps of 98.5 and 95.5 meters over Jim Denney jr. with Adam Schwall in third. Junior Class started from a higher gate than the Open class but Erlandsen's jumps were still good rides. Sometimes- Eastern skier from Park City, Utah, Robert Sammons flew to 4th place. Robert has trained with our Eastern group from time to time and has the GNA unofficial Hill record set during the Gunstock meet last Winter. The highest placing Eastern Junior was Jamie Tuttle in 6th place with jumps of 83 and 83.5 meters but getting outstyled by Sammons who had 81.5 and 83.5 meter rides. Morgan Goodwin sparked two rides of 77 and 76 meters to place 8th in the highly competitive Junior field with Brian Welch placing a surprising 12th followed by fast improving Geoff Howe in 13th and Jonathan Kling in 14th. Other Eastern skiers were Chris Decker in 19th, Jeremy Carter in 24th, Marshall Ambrose in 26th, Brian "the Hornet" Farnham in 28th, Even Bliss in 29th, and "Willi" Graves in 31st. The Flaming leaves Competition also featured an International Women's class which saw the top Female Jumpers in the World coming into Lake Placid for a week of training and competition. During the week there were some long jumps from these girls who came from Austria, Germany, Sweden,Finland and the U.S. at surprisingly low speeds. Sweden's Helena Olsson had several rides at or close to 100 meters in training. During the comp the winds were inconsistent and usually down the hill which kept the distances a little shorter but the girls still skied with less speed than the Junior class. One of the top U.S. girls, Lindsey Van, was sidelined for the meet due to a training injury in late August but Karla Keck, the reigning Women's World Champion jumped to 5th place and Liz Szotyori placed 9th. Austria captured the top two places with young sensation Daniella Iraschko winning the event with jumps of 82.5 and 94 meters. She was closely followed in 2nd by the legendary Eva Ganster of Austria (91,93) who holds the Women's World Distance record at 169 meters. Helena Olsson of Sweden flew to 3rd place (82,90) with the Austrian Sandra Kaiser in 4th (88,84). The Germans, Heidi Roth, Micheala Schmidt, and Kristin Schmidt were 6th, 7th, and 8th respectively followed by Lake Placid's Szotyori. Other U.S. girls included Veronica Mhyra in 14th, Blair Tomten in 15th, and Laura McLane in 16th. This was a great addition to the Flaming Leaves Competition and showed the improvement which is happening in the field of Women's Ski Jumping. Thanks to Aubuchon and ORDA for putting on a great meet and for helping to further Women's Ski Jumping (as well as men's). Thanks also to Jack Favro and Tracy Lamb and the U.S. Olympic Training Center for helping out with the Housing for the International Women. On Sunday the 10th of October NYSEF put on meets for skiers on the K-48 and the K-18 meter hills. On the K-48 Jamie Tuttle emerged the winner in the J-I class, Jonathan Kling the J-II's, and Evan Bliss in the J-III's. On the K-18 Nick Alexander of Lebanon won the J-III class with Andrew Bliss edging Colin Delaney in the J-V's. "West Virginia Dan" Long was the victor in the open class (See results for both days of meets).
Eastern Elite Team
For Nordic Combined the squad is made up of Morgan Goodwin, Geoffrey Howe, and Chris Decker. All three are veterans of several Junior Olympics and are looking to move up to the Nordic Combined Development Team to be chosen this year: the "Son Of Blob" named after the original successful "Blob" group which has produced a World Junior Championship Team. This Elite Team should help them move toward this objective. On the Special Jumping side of the street, five jumpers were named. They include the "Lebanon Mafia": Chris Watson Baker and Eric Smith as well as fellow New Hampshire skiers Jamie Tuttle and Jonathan Kling. Rounding off the group is Brian Welch of Scarborough, Maine who jumped onto the team on the strength of a 12th place finish in the Junior class at the Flaming Leaves Comp as well as his progress during the Summer Season. This group speaks well of the New Hampshire programs including the New Hampshire High School league as well as the Lebanon Outing Club and Gunstock Nordic Association which gave most of these five skiers their start. For the first time in Eastern history a Female Elite Team has been named. Liz Szotyori originally from Saugerties, N.Y., but living in Lake Placid for a number of years, is one member and the other skier is Lindsey Van from Park City, Utah. Lindsey has been living and training in Lake Placid for two years while the Park City jumps have been undergoing construction for the 2002 Olympics. She attends the National Sports Academy in Lake Placid. Both women were members of last Winter's Women's International Team which participated in the first FIS Ladies' Tournee held in Germany and Austria last February culminating in an event at the Nordic World Championships in Ramsau, Austria, which was the Women's World Championship event. Van placed 4th in that event one point off the podium with Szotyori in 10th place out of 30 Female skiers. Szotyori graduated from the National Sports Academy in June `97 while Van is in the 9th grade there currently. Speaking of the National Sports Academy, all three Nordic Combined Skiers are currently in attendance there as well as Jumper Jamie Tuttle. Similarly Lake Placid has played a big role in the other Jumpers improvement this Summer and Fall with Smith and Baker living and working there during the past Summer. Welch and Kling were frequent visitors as well to the Olympic Jumps and the NYSEF program over the Summer. These skiers were picked because of their committment to train at a higher level and the efforts put into their training and competition this Summer and Fall. Physical Testing, competition results and technical progress were the criteria used to name these skiers to this team. They will receive benefits in the form of uniforming, equipment, wax, additional training and competition opportunities as well as OTC support. The team will be re- evaluated at the end of the Winter for progress and adjusted accordingly. They will be held to certain standards during their tenure with the Team. It is hoped that this increased opportunity will lead to increased success and presence of the East in National and International competition. Congratulations to these ten skiers for their accomplishments.
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