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Show SPORTS The Park Record. Editor: Ben Ramsey sports@parkrecord.com 435.649.9014 ex.104 Twitter: @ParkRecSports LOCALS SELECTED FOR NORDIC JR. WORLDS U.S.A Nordic is sending 15 athletes to compete in the 2018 Junior World Championships for Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined in Kandersteg, Switzerland, Jan. 27 through Feb. 4. Of those 15, Samantha Macuga, Stephen Schumann, Tucker Hoefler and Jared Shumate are from Park City. NORDIC RACE RESCHEDULED The Wasatch Citizens Series Nordic Race has been rescheduled for Sunday, Jan. 28. For further information go to Utahnordic.com. SPRING YOUTH SOCCER LEAGUE Registration is open for Park City Recreation’s Spring Youth Soccer League for kids ages 4 to 11. The league is held April 14 to June 2 on Saturdays and/or Wednesdays at the Park City Sports Complex. The early bird fee is $60 and includes a uniform. The fee increases on Feb. 15. Parent volunteers are needed to coach every team, and head coaches receive a 50 percent discount on the registration fee. The registration deadline is March 16. Space is limited in all divisions. For more info and to register, visit parkcityrecreation.org or call 615-5400. MINERS BASKETBALL SENIOR WRESTLERS DISPLAYS POTENTIAL, B-2 HONORED, B-3 www.parkrecord.com Please see Sports briefs, B-4 SAT/SUN/MON/TUES, JANUARY 20-23, 2018 SkiMo races to growth in the Wasatch back With baked goods on the line, two youth teams step up BEN RAMSEY The Park Record On Tuesday, two budding youth ski mountaineering programs took to the snow for a mid-season race at Brighton Ski Resort: The Park City Ski Mountaineering team and the Silver Fork Ski Mountaineering team. The two are the only teams in the Wasatch, and through their friendly competition, they hope to grow the sport overall. Standing in the dark across the parking lot from the lodge at Brighton, the two teams lined up with dozens of other skiers and formed a mass of headlamps at starting line. At the word of a race organizer, the racers pushed off and climbed up into the aspens by the Milly chalet and around the back of the run. Ski Mountaineering, or SkiMo, is a combination of Nordic and alpine skiing. Skiers race around a course that typically incorporates elements of cross-country skiing, boot packing and climbing, and BEN RAMSEY/PARK RECORD Ski mountaineering racers take off from a starting line near the base of Brighton Ski Resort on Tuesday. Race organizer Eric Bunce says having between 80 and 100 racers is typical of the Brighton Resort races, which started just shy of a decade ago. alpine skiing. “At night, the biggest challenges can FIELDHOUSE ADULT PICKLEBALL LEAGUE Players will play with a different partner each week while learning the rules of the game. Paddles, nets, and balls will be provided as needed. The league runs on Sundays, Feb. 18 to April 29. The beginner/intermediate league runs from 12-1:30 p.m. and the intermediate/advanced league runs from 1:30-3 p.m. at the Fieldhouse gym. The cost is $40 per person. B-1 BEN RAMSEY/PARK RECORD A line of ski mountaineering racers traces up a run at Brighton Resort. Two youth teams established last year are the only local form of development. Grant Applications Are Currently Being Accepted for the Grant applications from certified tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations are now being accepted for the Bessie Minor Swift Foundation. The Foundation accepts grants for programs that emphasize literacy, reading and writing, languages, science and interdisciplinary areas. Applications ranging from $500 to $3,000 will be considered. Since 2008, the Foundation has awarded more than $450,000 to nonprofit groups including schools, libraries, community colleges and small local organizations. DEADLINES: Grant Application Deadline Thursday, February 15, 2018 Grant Awards Announcement Tuesday, May 1, 2018 ParkRecord.com To apply, please visit the Bessie Minor Swift Foundation website at: BessieMinorSwift.org be the cold, the darkness and just doing all the things you do in SkiMo in the dark, and navigating trickier downhills,” said Nina Silitch, head coach of the Park City team. The Park City team made its way through the course, and finished among the Silver Fork racers, with Jamerson Kent leading Park City’s junior racers with a second-place finish followed by Wesley Perkins in third and Declan Kryger in fourth. Silitch said having two teams has fostered competition as the sport starts to take hold in Utah. “It’s great,” she said. “I mean it’s a really good ambiance, and sometimes we will have practices together.” She and Sarah Cookler, the coach of the Silver Fork team, a neighborhood near Brighton Resort, both started coaching last year after discussions with Utah Ski Mountaineering. “It started with the neighborhood crew — skiing around the neighborhood and getting into it and playeing around,” Cookler said after the race. As her pupils skied by, she caught one skier’s attention and congratulated him. She said he was one of two neighborhood kids who saw her touring, and after seeing the season’s culminating event — the Powder Keg — in his backyard, asked if she would train him and a friend for the event. “(They) approached me about two weeks before the Powder Keg when they were 8 and 10 years old saying, ‘Hey, I think I want to try it,’” Cookler recalled. “I was like, ‘Guys, let’s give it a try.’” She said that at the time, the Powder Keg, a three-day event, didn’t have a Please see Racers, B-4 |