It was a dominant start to the season for the Team Summit age class/alpine race athletes who captured the top spot on the podium for all four races in each age division (U14, U12 and U10) at the USSA Giant Slalom races this past weekend at Crested Butte. For several of the races, Team Summit swept the podium and nearly swept the top 10.

Leading the pack were Team Summit's U10 racer, Kristen Sung and U12 athlete, Rhys Schmidt, who both placed first in all four GS races.

Sung was joined on the U10 girls podium for all four races by teammate, Charlotte Miller, who took four 2nd place finishes. Kitson Brown rounded out the Team Summit U10 podium sweep on Saturday with two 3rd place finishes. 

Rounding out the top 10 for the U10 girls were Nicole Labelle, Sadie Helmle, Reed Rentschler, Frances Nooft for the U10 girls. 

On the boys side, Team Summit's Murray Trosterman stood in the number one spot of the U10 boys podium three times this weekend while also bringing home a 3rd place finish for his second race on Saturday. Trosterman was joined on the podium by teammates North Brown who recorded three 2nd place finishes and one 3rd place finish, and by Asher Grohmann who got 3rd place for both Sunday races, helping the Team Summit U10 boys sweep the podium on Sunday. Luke Atwood and Ingram Olson also skied to top 10 finishes this weekend. 

For the U12 boys, Schmidt set a blistering pace for the field and led podium sweeps for the Team Summit U12 boys on both Saturday and Sunday. Schmidt was joined on the podium by William Dingman who got two 2nd place finishes on Saturday. Ethan Atwood, took over the 2nd place spot on the podium for the two Sunday races, while also placing in 3rd for one of the Saturday races. Julian Miller rounded out the Team Summit podium on Saturday with a 3rd place finish. On Sunday, it was Team Summit's Joshua Bender who got the bronze spot and Alex Reynolds who took over the 3rd place spot in the last race of the weekend.

The strong U12 boys team delivered with top 10 finishes throughout the weekend from Kaan Kuruvila, Keaton Foss, Milo Cybulski, Oliver Nelson and Anthony Labelle.

Team Summit's Harper Rowland had an impressive start to her season, finishing in first place three times for the U12 girls division. Rowland was joined by teammate Sienna Rudolf on the podium who notched two 2nd place finishes, as well as a 3rd place finish. Rudolf also took first place in the 2nd race on Saturday to earn a podium spot for all four races. Rowland and Rudolf’s teammates skied strong to round out the top 10: Evelyn Davis, Callie Helmle and Elizabeth Davis. 

In the highly stacked U14 girls field, the Team Summit athletes swept the podium in all four races. Alessandra Lauro won both Saturday races and got two 3rd place finishes in the Sunday races. Anya Leuing took first in both Sunday races. Lauren Leffel captured four 2nd place finishes, followed by Grace Berghorn in 3rd for the first Saturday race and then Jacqueline Miller who was in 3rd for the second Saturday race. Team Summit nearly swept the top 10 in the U14 girls division in all four races thanks to fast times from Iyla Kuruvila, Kita Riter, Scout Bennett, Caroline Brownson, Kelsey McGuire and Eliska Popkova.

When it came to the U14 boys GS races, the battle was between Team Summit teammates Iker Coig and Bryce Monte who swapped spots between 1st and 2nd places. Both racers recorded two 1st place finishes and two 2nd place finishes. They were joined on the podium by teammates Lyle McDonald who was 3rd in the first Saturday race, then Eliot Brown took the 3rd place spot for two of the weekend races.

Colin Bender, Griffin Wickstrom,  Ian Dicanio, Ben Zuflacht also scored top 10 results for the U14 boys.

The Team Summit alpine race team heads to Steamboat Jan. 20-21 for their next competition weekend, where the dual panel slalom race on Saturday will be livestreamed: https://youtube.com/live/AY-OnRG1RLo. Then, the team is back at home for slalom races Jan. 27-28 at Keystone. 

Summit Daily: https://www.summitdaily.com/sports/team-summit-dominates-at-first-alpine-ski-race-of-the-season-in-crested-butte/