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.
Miki was a competitor on the Romanian National Ski Team for ten years. She participated in three Olympics, three World Championships and three University Games. In 1998 she won the Women's GS World Pro Championship and placed second overall on the Pro Tour. Miki spent four years coaching young athletes in Europe. She ran Team Excel Ski Academy with her husband Gus DeMaggio, where they had great success, placing five of their athletes on national teams. Prior to coming to KUA, Miki coached at Cardigan Mountain School for seven years, helping guide the Cardigan alpine athletes to many great successes.
A current member of the Romanian national team, Alex races on the World Cup circuit. He was honored to represent his country in the Sochi Olympic games in February 2014, where he posted a best result of 21st in the Men's Slalom. Alex was coached by DeMaggio and Fera as a youth racer in the 90's. He is excited to join Kimball Union to coach for the 2014-15 alpine season.
A former FIS racer and national ski champion of Romania, Sebastian (Sebi) grew up skiing and racing in Romania, and has since turned to coaching. He coached his brother Alex in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. In the off-season Sebi is a professional rally driver. Sebi looks forward to joining Kimball Union for the 2014-15 alpine season.
An eight-year member of the Ukrainian National Ski Team, Tamara represented her country at three Alpine World Championships three. Recently, as a coach for the Brazillian national team, she managed skier training programs for Olympic, World Ski Championship, and South American Cup competitions. A highly-organized and proficient litigator, Tamara has argued cases before the Ukrainian Supreme court.
This week our Prep - School race took place at Loon. 19 of our skiers competed in GS. Sunny weather and hard snow condition let our KUA skiers put in an excellent performance and as a result, took 1st place in girl’s and a boy’s categories.
Shae Rulon won both runs of the race, her teammate Grace Dayton followed behind 2.56 seconds and took second position, Laura Robertello and Coreen Carly placed 4th and 5th.
In the boy’s category Sam Erb, Andrew Berry and Ethan Levine delivered a great performance placed 5th, 6th, 7th. Niko Lindenmayer took a lead in the JV category. Following him, Nate Lane placed 3d. Andrew Sarnavits, Max Braun, Calvin Titsworth and Noah Shortlidge placed 10th, 11th, 12th and 14th in the same category.
Unfortunately, Ben Astley could not finish the race.
Our second race of the year was held at Proctor where skiers had to battle in a slalom course, a much tighter setting than last week where they raced in a Giant Slalom.
Our skiers continue to hold the bar high especially in the girl’s category where KUA’s athletes placed first second and third. Greta Hulleberg won both runs followed exactly 1 second behind by Julia Denny and 1.4 sec. by Alex Marshall. Grace and Laura placed an honorable 5th and 6th place while our more novice racer Coreen, came in 8th.
In the boys category, Ethan Wilson won the overall race followed closely by Sam Durst who won the second run by 7 hundreds of a second. Andre Sherding put together two solid runs and followed in the 5th place at only 1.5 seconds behind Sam. Our freshman Sam Erb tried his skills with the varsity skiers and showed much potential.
In the boy’s JV category, KUA also came in 1st and 2 d place with Cole Boboc leading and Gavin McGough following behind.
Slalom is the riskier out of all alpine events and with that said, we know that there is always a learning opportunity and space for improvement for all.
Our season is finally on its way with KUA leading the Prep-School racing arena in both girls and boys categories. We want to congratulate all skiers for their great attitude and team work, especially those who completed their first race yesterday: Andrew, Calvin and Antonio.
The race was held at Sunapee on a short hill with no place for error. Julia Denny won both runs taking the lead with a good rhythm right from the start and sprinting to the finish. Shea Rulon, taking the podium’s 3d position, was just 1 second behind Julia. After her, Laura Robertello came in 5th one second behind. All our girls have received commentaries from other coaches stating how well they ski.
In the boy’s category, Colman Lamb won the overall race, dominating with smooth and consistent runs. He was followed by Ethan Wilson and Sam Durst, which came one and respectively two seconds behind Colman. The great news is that 6 other KUA athletes followed in within 1.5 seconds behind showing a very tight knit team. Our younger JV racers Sam Erb and Cole Boboc also won 1st and second place with times worthy of varsity spots.
I also want to extend a big THNAK YOU to all the parents and supporters who ventured in the frigid cold in order to cheer for our team. Go KUA!