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Show Extra practice pays off for town racers ( j .Mouth ajar. Kip (Jrillith rockets out of a turn on his way to first place in the men's Cross-Country Cross-Country class. .,' by David Hampshire The competition keeps getting I'-uHhor in the Park City 'IWii Kate series. At least that's the way Frank Elliott sees it. Elliott has seen his share of races as a member of the Park City Ski Area Race Department. And he says you'll find that the times of the top "C" racers are getting closer and closer to the times of the top "B" racers. "And the only reason we can't put them in "A"s is because the "A" class is already so damn big," he says. Elliott attributes the improvement, improve-ment, in part, to the resort's new practice of allowing would-be racers to run gates on Clementine the Friday before each town race. ' Winning a trophy is getting harder and harder. And that's what makes Jim Dinger so unusual. Dinger is a two-year Park City resident who, by his own admission, didn't really ski until this year. So when he finished fourth in the Jan. 21 town race, it caught a few people by surprise. A fluke? Dinger didn't think so. And he made a few more believers t by moving into trophy territory with a third place in the "C"s in this week's race. He's reportedly plan- ning to be in first by the end of the season. People who studied last week's results will notice that there are a 2 few names missing this week (see Scoreboard section). Bob Skinner, who had the fastest overall time a week ago, is nowhere to be found. Neither is Kathy Kreiner, who finished second last week in the women's Pro division. Neither is Karri Hays, a perennial favorite in the women's Pro class. The reason, according to some observers, is that race organizers set a tough course this week, causing an unusually high casualty rate among the skiers and among the bamboo poles marking the dual slalom course. Ironically, one of the victims of the course was the man who set the gates, Pro class racer Tom Rein-hardt. Rein-hardt. Winning the Pro division was Victor Roy, who had finished second to Skinner the week before. Second place in the Pro division, according to race department re-sulls, re-sulls, weiil ! one "Ald. Slai.sky.'" It turns out that "Stansky" .is actually a race department abbreviation abbrevia-tion for Stanisavljevic, which probably prob-ably doesn't ring a bell unless you like tongue-twisters or follow the fortunes of the Park City Ski Team. A couple of season ago Stanis- , avljevic appeared briefly on the team roster after moving to Utah from the Detroit area. He also spent a season racing in Europe and now attends the University of Utah. Third place in the Pro class went to long-time local ski racer Louie Leatham. In the women's Pro class, Jamie Kurlander Peters, third a week ago, vaulted into the top position, bumping last week's winner, Rox- anne Toly into second. In the men's Vet class, last week's winner, Steve Bagley, finished out of ! ; v I ?- . . - I ' - . V , " I . ? . " X . ' n V ? .. y . 1 - v 1 5 . j A : 'v ." V - )' '. v i '., ' - . '. 1 "" V . - " x v -;s'-"i!fHR0B vF&.-l . the money while Dave Peets moved into the top spot. Meanwhile, the top three places in the women's Vet class, led by Janie Fausold, were unchanged from the previous week. The men's "A" class saw Roy Moyer repeat his first place performance. However, Iris Gericke replaced Lea Turner as the fastest in the women's "A" class, bumping Turner to second. In the men's "B" class Bill Dieken took first for the second straight week. However, Gayle Tolle, winner of the "C" division a week ago, replaced Sue Hillman as top dog of the women's "B" class. As Hillniai, finished her first rui., she grumbled that the gates on the "B""C"Cross-Country course were farther apart than usual. That observation was later verified by the course setter, Frank Elliott. "I opened it up a little bit and made it a little rounder, so they had to push a little bit," he said. The change didn't seem to bother Pat Fleming, who repeated as men's "C" division winner for the straight week. And it didn't seem to bother Debbie Richter, who replaced Tolle in the top spot of the women's "C" class. The men's Cross-Country class saw Rip Griffith and Brad Makoff repeat their 1-2 performance of a week ago, while Kay Kucera, one of a disappearing breed in the town race a telemark skier repeated as the champion of the women's Cross-Country class. The schedule now calls for a one-week break before the town race series resumes Feb. 11. Pat Fleming scored his second consecutive victory in the men's "C" class. |