Club riders pile up medals at Nationals

TAHOE, Calif. ” The Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club sent 35 boarders to Nationals on March 31 through April 7 at Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort in California. They took home 33 medals.

In the United States of America Snowboard Association’s largest competition of the year ” 1,600 riders between the ages of six and 69 took part in halfpipe, slopestyle, slalom, giant slalom and boardercross events ” AVSC excelled. Not surprisingly, Jordan Karlinski helped lead the charge.

The 17-year-old was a fixture on the Women’s Open division podium with two silvers in slopestyle and halfpipe. The results helped Karlinski capture the overall freestyle title.

She impressed the judges with a second slopestyle run that included a cab boardslide frontside to fakie on one feature and a clean backside 360 off the final jump. Teammate Kyla Sobieralski was not far behind in fourth.

“Jordie’s run had some of the most technical tricks out there,” club snowboard director Miah Wheeler said in a news release.

The slopestyle course was also good to Molly Wilson, who overcame a fall during her first run to finish atop the Youth Women (14- and 15-year-olds) division. Her second run included a 270 on and 270 off the first box, a frontside 360 on the first air and a method on the second. She finished with a backside 360 that “Left the crowd stunned,” club snowboard coach Travis McLain said.

“It was do or die for her,” he added. “Her second run was so good she could’ve beaten girls much older than she was.”

Lindsea Lumpkin’s weeklong string of solid performances in the Grommet Girls (8-9) division yielded six medals. She was golden in boardercross and took bronze in both giant slalom and slalom. Those results helped her win bronze medals in the alpine overall (a combination of finishes in slalom and giant slalom), combined overall (all events except boardercross) and triple overall (all events).

Carbondale’s Ben Sydoryk finished with four medals in the Menehune Boys (10-11) age group. A smooth run that featured a 540 in the halfpipe helped him take third.

“Ben was a dark horse,” Wheeler said. “He surprised a lot of people. I think the only one not surprised was his coach, Tyler Lindsay.”

Sydoryk matched his earlier result in boardercross after battling his way through four competitive rounds. For his efforts, he won combined overall and triple overall bronze medals.

Harry Kearney led the way for AVSC in the Breaker Boys (12-13) division with a boardercross silver medal.

Brother Hagen Kearney also finished second in boardercross in the Youth Men’s (14-15) division. He and teammate Morris Hogan battled a sloppy course to make the six-man final heat.

They took different routes to get there, however.

“Hagen had some amazing starts and wire-to-wire victories, and Hogan pulled out several come-from-behind charges in each of his heats,” McLain said.

The final followed a similar pattern for both riders. Kearney jumped into second place moments after the start, and Hogan took his position near the back of the pack. While Kearney could not make a move and settled for silver, Hogan avoided four crashes en route to a fourth-place finish.

Success at Northstar-at-Tahoe wasn’t confined to the Club’s young athletes. Local riders Mark Hogan and Gailen Smith both figured prominently in their respective adult divisions.

Smith won the Methuselah Men’s (60-69) age group for a fourth consecutive year; he took gold in halfpipe and slopestyle and silver in slalom, giant slalom and boardercross.

Hogan finished second in boardercross and third in slopestyle to clinch the overall silver among Legend Men (40-49) participants.

“Our whole team was supportive of the entire week, and it just proves that building great people leads to great results,” Wheeler said.