Kimball Union has a long tradition of strong alpine racing.
Many KUA racers seek competition in events sanctioned by the New Hampshire Alpine Racing Association (NHARA) and the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA). Participation in these races is directed and supported by the Alpine Coaching Staff at KUA. We are fortunate with our location and have a variety of great mountains surrounding us. Our primary training hills reside at Mount Sunapee (35 minutes away) and Whaleback (15 minutes away).
At the high school level, the KUA Alpine team competes in the Class A division of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC). We compete in the Lakes Region League which holds competitions throughout January and February among schools such as Holderness, Proctor Academy, St. Paul's, and New Hampton School. KUA is a leader in the Lakes Region League and annually has racers who finish in the top 5. Each year, members of the Alpine Ski Team qualify to compete at the Class A NEPSAC Championships, against racers from schools from all over New England including Berkshire, Northfield Mount Herman, Deerfield, and Nobles and Greenough.
Gus DeMaggio came to KUA from Cardigan Mountain School in 2011. A native of Hanover, NH, Gus studied Physical Education, with a minor in coaching. He competed successfully at the collegiate level for his four years at Plymouth State, with a best result of 11th overall in the Collegiate Nationals. After college, Gus was the director of a successful recreation area. He moved quickly back to his love of skiing, where he was director of the Loon Mountain Ski Team for 8 years, and finally moved on to developing his private international race academy in Europe. This involved academic support as well as a highly competitive alpine race-training program. He has traveled extensively through Austria, France and Italy promoting this program.
Miki Fera-DeMaggio’s came to KUA after 6 years at Cardigan Mountain School. Prior to this, she and Gus DeMaggio spent two years coaching young international athletes in Europe. They put two athletes on the Scottish and English National ski teams, as well as three others on the Romanian team. Miki graduated from TU (Transylvania University) with a degree in Physical Education, and was on the Romanian National Ski Team for 10 years. She participated in three Olympics, three World Championships, and three University Games. She ended her skiing career as a GS World Pro Champion and second overall when she retired from the Women’s World Ski Tour in ‘98. In addition to skiing, she loves to windsurf, rock climb, mountain bike, hike, sail, and paraglide.
KUA Varsity Ski Team Scores Gold & Silver at Lakes Region Slalom Finals
KUA Varsity Ski Team Scores Gold & Silver at Lakes Region Slalom Finals
It was a real nail-biter at the Lakes Region Slalom Championships held at Proctor on Wednesday. The KUA skiers came to play and play hard. The boys came home with the gold at the end of the day, adding to their previous gold in the Lakes Region GS Championship. Dan Scherding was able to keep up his reputation of being the fastest skier in the prep school series. He led the team placing first with a two second lead over the next competitor. Jim Herbert has been finding his stride of late and put two fantastic runs together, earning a 5th place result. Close behind was teammate Karl Menzel in 7th place. The surprise of the day, earning the fourth place points for the team, was Craig Tyer, landing in 14th position. Craig had a great season and was on a mission to pop into the top fifteen. Freshman Sam Durst who has been out injured for a few weeks skied solidly and placed 18th. Charlie Parry, Dylan Chauvin laid down two very solid runs. Charlie placed 34th and Dylan 46th place overall. Freshman Levy Byrd had a great first run, attacked the second run, and unfortunately blew out of the course.
The girls’ team was on fire at Wednesday’s race. They were looking to add another gold to their trophy shelf, having brought home gold in the Lakes Region GS Championship a few weeks ago. However, they were barely edged out of the gold by a very competitive St. Paul’s team. Kayla Jacobs (4th), Alicia Fairbrothers (8th), Leah Cole Durst (9th), Zoe Reed (14th), Amalie Peterson (17th) and Greta Hulleberg (fell 1st run, 5th in the second run) were all in the zone. Each and every one of our girls skied the best they had skied all winter. But ski racing can be won and lost by just hundredths of a second, and the amount by which St. Paul’s beat out our Wildcat girls amounted to about 1” of distance over two combined runs… only one inch! Congratulations girls on a great season.
At the NEPSAC Championships held at Blackwater ski area, the KUA men’s team held strong against excellent competition from fifteen other schools in the Class A Division, and came home with a second place overall title. Congratulations to Dan Scherding, Jim Herbert, Karl Menzel, Craig Tyer, Ethan Levine and Levy Byrd for a great day of racing. Special congratulations to Dan Scherding for a decisive win in the SL and GS race and winning the overall NEPSAC Championship title.
Teammate Jim Herbert placed an impressive 8th in the SL, and 11th in the GS to help the team on its mission. Karl Menzel brought in the final scoring points for the team placing 14th in the SL, and 20th in the GS. Craig Tyer was consistent all day finishing all four runs placing 35th in the SL and 46th in the GS.
On the women’s side, the team finished a respectable 5th overall against eleven other Class A schools, many of which host teams significantly larger than KUA’s, improving their scoring chances with back-up skiers. Freshman Greta Hulleberg led the team in place points earning a 6th in the GS, and a 10th in the SL. Teammate Alicia Fairbrothers was close behind with a 10th in the GS, and a 15th in the SL. Sophomore Zoe Reed scored the final points for the team in both races with her 20th in the GS and her 24th in the SL. Senior Leah Cole Durst had a promising 11th place finish in the first run of the SL, but unfortunately fell in the second run, hiking up to be sure to get a finish for the team. Kayla Jacobs did it in reverse, falling and hiking in the first run of the SL, and then placing 12th in the second run. In the GS Kayla came in 22nd overall and Leah came in 27th. Special thanks to Amalie Peterson for helping out the team and being on standby as an Alternate, and special thanks to all the parents who came out to support the team.
Lakes Region GS Championships – KUA Team Brings Home Silver
KUA SKIING
Lakes Region GS Championships – KUA Team Brings Home Silver
This week the Varsity KUA skiers attended the Lakes Region GS Championships at Gunstock. Alpine skiing at the top level is all about hundredths of a second, and this race proved no exception; it was a real nail biter. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams placed second out of the ten teams competing, with the final placement coming down to hundredths of seconds. Prep school races are scored by taking the top three results on the girls’ team, and the top four results on the boys team. Notable results came from Greta Hulleberg who placed 5th, teammate Alicia Fairbrothers who placed 6th, and Zoe Reed who just missed the 10th position by 2 tenths of a second. Leah Cole Durst placed 16th and Amelie Peterson 17th. Top skier Kayla Jacobs had a mishap with her ski bindings and had to exit the course.
On the boys’ side, Dan Scherding was the fastest skier on the hill winning the race by an impressive three seconds. Fellow teammate Jim Herbert followed quickly behind, coming in 5th place. Karl Menzel got the acrobat award for the day; in the middle of the course, he caught an edge, flipped over his skis, and with cat-like reflexes got back in the course and was able to pull off a 9th place. Young and aggressive Ethan Levine placed in 27th place, pulling in the last scoring points for the team. Daniel Pogust placed 29th, Charlie Parry 33rd, Dylan Chauvin 39th and Craig Tyer 43rd.
The Prep School Championships are next Wednesday at Blackwater Ski Area. We hope to see you there supporting the team!