OCR Text |
Show ... -, t ' : . - V . 1 - ' a Local racer Clifford Funk grits his teeth and leans into a telemark turn at last weekend's Wasatch Citizens Series competition. Versatility is the key to the skimeister title by Nan Chalat Specialization is the key to success in most athletic competitions. But in this year's Wasatch Citizens Series, diversification will be the key to winning the 1983-84 skimeister title. The series has been pared down to three flat track and three telemark races this year. There were six of each last year. But a new dimension has been added with three races on alpine equipment. Since all of the events are equally weighted, the most versatile skiers will have the best chance of winning the most points during the season. Last weekend was a case in point. There was a flat track race at Wasatch Mountain State Park on Saturday (see related article for results) and back-to-back telemark and alpine races on Sunday at the Park City Ski Area. Park City resident Dave Hanscom managed to place in all of the races and is now a strong contender for the coveted series title. Laura Gray topped the novice class telemarking through the gates on nordic equipment. Vickie Williamson William-son was second and Anita Holden finished third. Among the expert women, Cindy Collinson won first place in the telemark event and Kay Kucera was second. Pam Hansen was third. The men's novice class, which drew 20 competitors, saw Steve Howe telemark his way to first place. Brent Johnson was just three seconds behind for second , and Brett Mach was third. Brett Hanscom, who had challenged his dad to come out and run the gates, was 11th. He finished a second later and ranked 14th. The competition among the expert men was intense. Tore Nilsen finished first, ahead of former skimeister Rob Landis, who had to be satisfied with second place. Third went to Steve Baeder, who finished just ahead of Brad Makoff. Fifth went to Chris Larsen. Local resident Carl Dollhausen nipped fellow fel-low Parkite Clifford Funk for eleventh place. All-round athlete Ed Masters finished 14th and Mark Oliver was 16th. The turnout for the alpine event was significantly smaller. smal-ler. Evidently a large number of nordic racers have given up on alpine equipment altogether. Maree Plunkett topped the three female novice entrants and Kay Kucera topped her only competitor (Christine Heide-klang) Heide-klang) in the women's expert class. Brent Johnson won first place among the novice men on alpine skis. Dave Hanscom Hans-com showed his mettle by switching to alpine gear and finishing second. Brent's father, Wayne, was third. Gerry Jaeger was the fastest expert on alpine skis and Hank Barber was second. sec-ond. Rip Griffith was third. The Wasatch Cup finals are scheduled for March 3 and 4. The last flat track race will be held at the Brighton Touring Center that Saturday. Satur-day. The last telemark and alpine races will be held at Snowbird the following day. bird the following day. |