"Aude Volare" -- Dare to Fly! New Heights, Online the electronic newsletter of Eastern U.S. Ski Jumping

2000 Junior Olympics
J2 Team Strikes Gold!

On Sunday, February 27, right after participating in the Empire State Games, the Eastern Junior Olympic Team headed to the Colorado Rockies for the Junior Olympics 2000 hosted in Steamboat Springs. The team of 18 Eastern athletes and our resident Intermountain skier, Lindsey Van, was lead by Team Leader/Trouble Shooter, Jim Carter, along with Coaches Larry Stone and Alexei Sotskov.

The Nordic Combined Team Sprint event kicked things off on March 1. The J-2 teams consisted of Marshall Ambrose and Morgan Goodwin as East #1 and the up and coming duo of Willy Graves and Matt Delaney as East #2. The J-1 Teams were East #1: Chris Decker and Geoff Howe while Laura McLane teamed up with Central Woman Jumper Blair Tomten for a mixed division All Women's Team.

The J-2 Jump portion of the event on the K60 hill saw Goodwin and Ambrose jump to 5th place, with the young East #2 Team 12th. RMD #1 with Clint Jones returning briefly to Nordic Combined held a 57 second advantage out of the start over the IMD team of the Camerota twins, Brett and Eric, and 1:23 ahead of East #1. Two Canadian Teams were in the mix as well in 3rd and 4th place while things looked tough for East #2 back at 3:04. Team Camerota looked to be the team to beat as both of the twins are tough cross country skiers and sure enough at the finish line they claimed the gold with Jones and Ethan Johnson 2nd. Goodwin and Ambrose skied a good race beating the Canadians and claiming the East's first medal of the games. Meanwhile, East Team #2 was skiing a great race and moving up 6 places to finish 6th, perhaps an auspicious omen of what will happen in the future as Graves and Delaney come into their own.

In the J-1 race Decker and Howe were in 4th position after the jumping behind two RMD Teams and Central. At the finish line East #1 claimed our second medal for third place as Decker and Howe raced the 2nd fastest time. Trey Oxford skiing with Nathan Gerhart had won by over a minute with Alex Glueck and Adam Schwall in 2nd. Laura McLane and Blair Tomten finished in 8th.

J-2 Team Jumping was next and for the first time in many years the East jumped away from the field for the Gold Medal. The team of Jonathan Kling, Morgan Goodwin, Jeremy Carter and Brian Welch out jumped the rest of the field with Welch and Carter cementing the deal going 59.5 and 59 meters respectively on their last jumps. In 2nd place were RMD #1 and Canada in 3rd. East Team #3 made up of Matt Delaney, Peter Roland, Willy Graves and Sam Burke finished 11th and East #2 of Brian Farnham, Andrew Baker, Evan Bliss and Marshall Ambrose in 12th.

The J-1 Team event was not as successful for the East. The RMD Team #1 led by Clint Jones dominated the field. Central Team #1 with the Denney boys took 2nd and RMD #2 took the bronze. East Team #1 of Chris Decker, Jamie Tuttle, Brian Welch and Jeremy Carter settled at 5th place behind the Canadians.

The next day the J-2's took to the hill for their Special Jumping event. Lindsey Van, skiing for IMD took the Women's event with Laura McLane 2nd in the Women's Open Class. Clint Jones, in his last event as a J-2 won with Canadian Andrew Osadetz (2) and RMD Ethan Johnson (3). Johnson currently holds the hill record on this K60 meter hill. In 4th place overall was Easterner Jeremy Carter who brought us our next bronze medal as the Canadians don't count for JO medals. The J-2's from the East again skied well with Goodwin as 4th American and Welch (7) and Kling (9) overall giving us four Easterners in the top 7 US skiers. This is positive news for the Eastern program and should bode well for the next several years. Other J-2 skiers also showing signs of good things to come were Ambrose (32), Bliss (33), Burke (35), Baker (41), Delaney (43) and Roland (44).

Next came the Individual Nordic Combined. After the jumping Jonathan Kling was in 3rd place behind Ethan Johnson of Steamboat. A little ways back the stage was set for a real showdown between Morgan Goodwin (7) place and his rival IMD Brett Camerota (6) with only 3 seconds separating them. Putney star Willy Graves was 19th, 2:41 out and just two seconds behind Marshall Ambrose (18) and Matt Delaney (25). While Kling 's start position was only 1:03 out, the real battle looked to be between Goodwin and Camerota. Not to be forgotten was the other Camerota just 17 seconds in back of Morgan. Alexei hit the wax perfectly and Morgan defying pre-race strategy passed Camerota on the first lap and skied the first half of the race like he was a heat seeking missile. Kling, meanwhile, had fallen somewhat off the pace having not spent much time with his X-C training. The meat and potatoes of this race revolved around the Goodwin/Camerota struggle. Leading the first two laps, Goodwin hit the wall on the 3rd and Camerota got around him. As they headed out for the 3rd lap it looked as if Morgan had expended more than he had in the bank but as he had proven before, the boy is one tough Adirondack mountain goat. As they approached the finish, the race became a sprint. Goodwin dug deep and at the finish line just got by Camerota to earn the Silver Medal and post the fastest race time. Johnson had won the Gold but Morgan won our hearts with a great performance! The next wave of Eastern skiers showed promise with Ambrose (12) right behind Kling (11), Graves (15) and Delaney (18) skiing the 10th fastest X-C time.

The J-I Combined K88 jumping saw Nathan Gerhart emerge as the leader with a 6 second advantage over Trey Oxford. Adam Schwall and Alex Glueck were 28 and 30 seconds back respectively. To show the depth of the skiers in this event, Chris Decker (6) had two respectable rides of 84, 84.5 meters and Geoff Howe (7) jumped 78, 77.5 meters. It was another exciting race as Trey and Nathan skied neck and neck the entire race. Gerhart won by a second. Decker and Howe maintained their positions and finished 6th and 7th. In the Women's Combined event Laura McLane could not overcome Tomten's big lead after the jumping and finished 2nd despite the faster time.

The final event was the K88 Jump Meet. Lindsey Van stayed ahead of a surprisingly strong showing by Tomten. Van jumped 77.5, 79 meters to Tomten's's 77, 73.5 meters but Van's landings and style points gave her the women's win. In the Men's event young Canadian Osadetz finished first with jumps of 89.5, 89 meters. Leading the US Juniors was Adam Schwall with jumps of 90, 83.5 meters. One point behind was Trey Oxford who had the longest jump of the day at 92.5 meters and right behind him was Decker with jumps of 88, 86 meters. Decker had a great day and gave the East it's first J-I Jump medal in several years. Other Eastern were Carter (16), Goodwin (18), Welch (25), Tuttle (26), and Howe and Kling tied at 29th. With a surprising showing and jumps of 68, 69 meters, Sailin' Sammy Burke had a great day and placed 46th, Ambrose and John Farnham tied at 50th, Graves (56), Hornet Farnham (60), Bliss (62), Baker (63), Delaney (66), and Roland (67). All in all the Eastern team came up with great results for our 2000 Junior Olympics and showed that we are on an upswing. Good work, Team East! [ More portraits! ]

2000 National Titles to
Doran, Lodwick, Jones & Van

On March 21, 2000, ten Eastern Jumpers and Combiners headed to Steamboat Springs, CO for the Chevy Truck National Ski Jumping/NC Championships. Coaches Larry Stone and Casey Colby accompanied a group of Eastern skiers including Eric Smith, Chris Baker, Ryan Cutter, Geoff Howe, Chris Decker, Morgan Goodwin, Brian Welch, Jeremy Carter, Lindsey Van and Liz Szotyori.

Because of warm temperatures, jumping took place at 7:00 am and cross country in the evening after temperatures had dropped and the snow firmed. The first event, the K88 Normal Hill, took place Friday with Brendan Doran the first round leader and never looking back. He was challenged in the second round by Vladimir Hlyvka at 91 meters and Todd Lodwick going 90 but Doran settled the issue with a 91.5 meter ride that put the Normal Hill Title on ice for the Steamboat native. Lindsey Van of Park City, training out of Lake Placid, out styled Central rival, Karla Keck, to claim the National Women's Title. Keck flew 78, 80 meters to Van's 77.5, 77 meter rides but Lindsey's stylish telemark landings gave her the title by 2.5 points. (A lesson here for skiers to remember to finish off those rides correctly....Ed. note) Rounding out the top three was Liz Szotyori with two 68 meter jumps.

Honorary Eastern alumnus Vladimir Hlyvka was second overall with strong jumping in the guest class as he awaits his U.S. citizenship. Steamboat skiers Todd Lodwick and Clint Jones claimed 2nd and 3rd with USST skier Alan Alborn in 4th place. Former Eastern skiers Carl Van Loan and Bill Demong finished 7th and 8th. Eastern skier Ryan Cutter placed 26th as the top Eastern showing with jumps of 78, 76.5 meters. Chris Decker finished 32nd, Brian Welch (34), Jeremy Carter (36), Chris Baker (37), Geoff Howe (39), Morgan Goodwin (40) and Eric Smith (48).

Friday night saw the Combiners take to the Cross Country course at Rodeo Stadium. Todd Lodwick, who ended the season 4th in the overall World Cup NC rankings, skied first and was never challenged as he skied to another National Title. Skiing a great race, Bill Demong overtook Carl Van Loan to claim 2nd while Van Loan hung on to 3rd place. Howe, the top Eastern finisher skied the whole race with Norwegian Bard Elden, trainer for the US Development team and former World Cup Combiner. Howe skied the 11th fastest time to put him 16th in the combined standings with Decker (17) and Goodwin (20).

On Sunday morning the competition moved to the K112 for the Large Hill Tournament. Once again Doran jumped to an early lead in the first round with a jump of 117.5 meters. In the second round things got intense as Clint Jones jumped 118.5, Doran and Lodwick both flew 116 meters and Vladimir going 117 meters. When the dust (or rapidly melting snow) had settled Clint had posted a narrow victory over Todd Lodwick by a scant .7 of a point as Doran dropped to 3rd place jumping 116 and Vlady in 4th overall. (editor's note: Doran would have won if he had put in a telemark on his first ride.) Last year's Big Hill Champion Alan Alborn was the 4th American in 5th place overall. Demong while starting to find his way back to his early season form was 6th and Van Loan (7). Ryan Cutter was the top jumper from the East in 29th place followed closely by Brian Welch (30), Decker (31), Carter (34), Baker (36), Eric Smith (38), Goodwin (40), and Howe (56).

In the Women's event on the Large Hill Lindsey Van once again claimed first place over Keck and Liz Szotyori placed in 3rd place. Van jumped 86.5, 90 meters to Keck's 82, 88 meter rides. The Steamboat Organizing Committee are to be commended for hosting a first rate National Event.

(Ed. note: At least two of the National Titles this year were decided by telemarks or a lack of them. Competition is more competitive so this will become increasingly important as the level of U.S. jumping rises.)

A Glorious Weekend at Salisbury

By Don West
(Plattsburgh, Monday Feb. 7) A weekend of sunshine, fresh air and exercise (and 500 highway miles) have left me tired but mellow, and moved me to indulge a personal reminiscence.

What a weekend it was! All the kids were jumping and having fun, little kids, just established on 50 meter hills were pushing the envelope on a "big hill", the 65 meter Satre hill, and big kids, the NYSEF gunslingers, were enjoying the well conditioned "small hill", landing more flights past 60 meters than anyone can remember.

The SWSA stalwarts put down a great base of gun-snow, then Mother Nature kissed the Berkshires with a foot of old fashioned sky-snow. The tower was paved with ice-rink shavings, bullet proof even in case of rain, and Larry Stone and Danny "Mouse" Warner cut in a beautiful, straight track. Thank God for machine made tracks!

Sometimes, when I load up the car on a Friday afternoon for the four hour motor trip to the corner of Connecticut, I wonder why I do it. I know how tired I will be by the time I get back home on Sunday evening, and how hard it will be to get through my Monday classes. But a year ago, I found out that I may not really have a choice in the matter. As I lay in bed with a 102 fever, I kept thinking that by tomorrow I would feel better and be able to buzz down to Salisbury, see my friends and take a few jumps. I'm hooked, addicted, I can't not do it!

But what a great fix this weekend was. Saturday's jumping was highlighted by Taylor Hoffman's 70.5 meter hill record leap. He landed so hard that his ski tip failed, but not his legs! The competition went pretty much according to the script, Lindsey Van, Jamie Tuttle and Taylor showed who was boss as everybody warmed up for tomorrow's Championship. Sunday's meet offered, in addition to Eastern Championship crowns and points toward qualifying for this year's Junior Olympics, a chance to take home two special trophies. The Junior class shootout for the Sig Evensen Award looked too close to call...Jamie?... Morgan? And then there was the matter of the big Satre Trophy. Taylor had already put his name twice on the big silver punch bowl and "Taz" looked like a shoo-in to do it again on Sunday and take the Satre Trophy home for keeps.

Saturday afternoon, while the nordic-combined skiers celebrated the rare opportunity to race on cold snow in Connecticut, a couple dozen of us helped welcome Mark Levasseur into middle age at a surprise 40th birthday party organized by Mark's terrific first lady, Robin Fisher. There were gifts and gags, laughs and best wishes, plenty of that characteristic speech from Mark's Woostah relations.

One special delight of a Salisbury weekend is the opportunity to get to know one of the many gracious local families who open their doors, and their spare bedrooms, to the visiting skiers. I have been staying with Bam and Audry Whitbeck for about 20 years, but this year Audry was too busy to take in strays, so I found a new friend, Tom Jensen, a barrel-chested Peter Pan: kayaker, biker, XC-skier, rock climber, dad, Norwegian-Irish-American musician, SWSA director and general good fellow who can whip up a heck of a plate of pancakes on a moments notice.

And that wasn't the only difference this year, the banquet wasn't at the Grove, it was at the church, but they still served the same terrific roast beef. Was this a sign of changes to come, maybe, but I don't think anybody noticed. Danny (Mr. Gruff) Warner showed a soft side as he remembered our friend, Sig Evensen. The awards were over early and, not being any better at dancing than I am at ski jumping, I thought I would skip the Sno-Ball and drop in unannounced on the Whitbecks. Audry and I had a very pleasant chat, while Bam dozed in his Lay-Z-Boy, practicing for when he "watches" U-Conn Huskies basketball. And why not? At 70-something, he had spent the day at the jump and then skied the XC course with the combined kids.

Weather predictions for Sunday were "blustery and cold", but with some prudent wind flagging by Larry Stone, everything went off without a hitch. Unless "without a hitch" means that the favorite always wins. In fact, by the end of the day, every competitive class was turned on its head. Lindsey left the door open and Liz Szotyori flew right into first place, Chris Decker gave Morgan and Jamie something to remember, then quickly waved goodbye so he could act as official mascot for the Mountain Muffins European tour. The old guy stopped the Cannonball's string of Eastern Masters crowns at two. And then there's that "money jumper" from Hanover! Flyin' Ryan bangs one down at 70 meters and says, "Excuse me, Mr. Hoffman, before you take home that big bowl, lets put the name 'Cutter' on it this year!"

So welcome back Taz and Ryan and Brian Welch after two years of hard times. And congratulations to those two quiet guys Marshall Ambros and Chris Jones who are figuring out how to jump far. And cheers for all you guys who make this season's senior class the biggest in years. And that's not all, who could not cheer to see little Sammy Burke go 51 meters on his trial ride? Or second year jumper Tobin Whitman fly 51.5 meters (he was down on the Lebanon 20 meter just two weeks ago).

Sammy is always the analyst. "I like this inrun." he says "I have time to find my mistakes and fix them before I get to the takeoff." I guess so, Sammy! But the good news didn't end there. I asked SWSA coach Jon Swansen if he had any kids jumping, now that there was snow. "About six, with four more coming next week." Will this be the new Connecticut Air Force, the next generation Jon, Ken, Luke, Seth and Webb? Lets hope so.
(Ed. note -- Jon did bring a couple of carlaods of jumpers to Lake Placid for the Lions Club Jumps. Great!)

So where do we go from here? There are changes on the horizon in the way we utilize the Olympic Training Center. The changes were explained to me in a context bigger than the media is using and it doesn't seem that it will necessarily be bad, but the press has been having a field day. It underscores the point that we are directly responsible for our future and that our job is to create an environment and competitive arena which allows skiers to develop to where they can be integrated into the US Team structure. We also need skiers to feel right about skiing to the level that gives them a good experience whether or not they aspire to the international level. At the Eastern Spring Meeting attention was given to developing a marketing and sponsorship plan. This will be great if we can maintain the momentum to accomplish such a task.

The Summer Camp schedule is set whether we have the OTC space or not. If there is a problem with the OTC, we should be prepared to find alternatives. Eastern Ski Jumping/ Nordic Combined will have to be resourceful but it needn't be a problem either way this situation turns out.

There are a few camps set up which will have more specific focus on the K48 and working with the next wave of skiers who are evolving to the point where that hill will be most productive. We thank Tom Colby and Mouse for the work they did this winter, as well as the great job that Andover, Lebanon, Salisbury, and Brattleboro did this year. GNA did what they could this year thanks to Alexei but we should start hoping that they can bring their big hill meet back next year. That is an important hill to keep going.

Last of all I'd like to thank the real unsung heroes of this sport - the parents of our skiers - for all the support and sacrifice they endure to keep our kids skiing. Without parents who are willing to spend the time, money and energy to keep their children involved, we would not even have a chance. Let's can keep giving these parents, athletes, coaches and clubs every bit of support we can! See you on the hill.