Epic Results for K-Squad Athletes at Red Deer Competition!

Last weekend was a monster for NASA’s mogul skiers as they competed in their first ever-mogul event at Red Deer with over 150 young athletes participating from every freestyle club in the province. It truly was a couple of days of “firsts” as Friday’s training got underway on a full two-jump course. The team’s preparation leading up this event has been extensive with a superb on snow training site and a super secret trampoline training facility at a clandestine location close to COP. Fridays training went off without a hitch as all three athletes handled top to bottom runs with confidence by the end of the day.

Race Day started early with assistant coach Preston overseeing a full course inspection with the kids well before official training started while Mike attended the coaches meeting.  Coaching roles for the day were as such… Mike would be on foot and at the top of the course for training and comp runs. Preston and Julie were on skies to accompany the kids for stretch, warm up and support all day.  Race order for the day was rather unusual as there was a cut for a second run but it was the bottom half of the qualifying runs that got a second chance. We knew we would have to lay down our best on the first run, as most likely the NASA kids would be in the top half of the cut if we skied smart and clean. All three had good training runs especially Sean who seemed rather relaxed about the whole scene.

First up was Heidi running third in the start order… play list on her I-POD for final preparation and run was “EYE OF TIGER”…her pick as she patiently waited for the starters signal. It was top to bottom with no major mistakes, beautiful turns, and spread eagle on the top air with a Cossack on the bottom jump, perhaps a tad slow in speed but clean.

Next up was Georgia Wood running close to the end of the women’s start list. Georgia, an experienced K-2 alpine racer from Australia has numerous regional, State and National titles in Australian Moguls but all on courses like NASA’s Mogul patch. This was her first ever start on a full course. She too was wired for sound for final preparation and her run… rumor has it that it was some classic Queen playing on her I-POD in the start gate.

Georgia exploded out of the gate and proceeded to blow away the rest of the field with a staggering 5.4 spread in total points awarded by the judges between her and the second place finisher… To put this into perspective as it relates to alpine, it would be like the first place finisher with a time almost 30% faster than second place…. All 3 judged aspects for moguls (turns 50%, jumps 25% speed 25%) were dominated by this very gifted multi-disciplined skier.

Next up was Sean who had a mid pack draw out of a field of over 90 for the boys. Preston was in the start gate to keep Sean out of trouble… he also had an exceptional run going until he hit the second air a touch too hot… landing virtually on the first mogul after the landing pad. He was spat out of the course and kissed the fence. He would have a second run later in the day if he wanted.

Unfortunately, things were running very late with a second run maybe by 6 or 7 pm… it was decided to ask Sean if he wanted a second run or pull the pin to get home, rest up and hit the NASA mogul patch bright and early for Sunday. We chose to forfeit a second run and enjoyed a special time together as a team in the finish area before returning home.  It was indeed a very special moment in time for all involved with NASA’s mogul program… 1^st place for Georgia and a rock solid 3^rd place finish for Heidi! Heidi had the second best turn scores of the day behind Georgia… with a significant points spread ahead of the second place finisher but was much slower and that pushed her back to the Bronze medal position.  Georgia posted the highest score at the event (boys and girls).

Head K-Squad Coach Mike Haid is very pleased with what the athletes accomplished but has assured them that they are nowhere near their full potential… so don’t get comfortable or smug with this one event. Coach Mike is determined to keep the athletes on a proper long term development pathway working towards consistent and significant improvements both on and off the snow.