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Purgatory Freestyle ski team off to strong start

Purgatory Freestyle team soaring through season
Durango’s Trudy Mickel has soared to outstanding results so far this ski season, with a win at U15 singles event in Aspen and a fifth-place overall finish in dual moguls.

The Purgatory Freestyle Devo Ski Team saw its season begin with a bang last weekend in Telluride.

Developmental freestyle skiers between the ages of 6 and 14 represented Purgatory Resort against competitors from Aspen, Pajarito, Steamboat Springs, Summit County, Telluride, Vail and Winter Park for a two-day mogul competition that featured more than 90 athletes.

The event counted toward the Rocky Mountain RQS/Devo State Championships standings. Purgatory will host the state championship event March 11-13.

Freestyle mogul skiing competition has athletes race down a steep, heavily moguled course. Speed and aerial maneuvers along with technical turns are the focus.

Cole Alexus took charge for the Purgatory team in moguls Saturday by placing second in the under-13 age category, placing him fourth overall in a field of 40 competitors. Rawles brothers Hunter and Freddy placed second and third, respectively in the U15 age division. Freddie Mickel also took sixth place in the U9 division, and Aiden Quayle finished 12th in U13.

The Purgatory team fared even better Sunday with Megan Faherty’s electric score. She had the best result among any of the boys or girls to claim the U13 title. Nina Quayle claimed first for U11 girls, and Lucy Klotz claimed third in the same division.

Piling up more medals, Chase Connors and Amara Kirk both had silver medals in the U9 age divisions. Kai Skowlund raced to a fourth-place result in U13, followed by Jaden Kirk in seventh and Ryan Bell in ninth.

Jude Kassay and Jeremiah Rohrich took ninth and 18th in U11, respectively. Balin Kirk also claimed a fourth-place finish in U9.

Purgatory’s Devo skiers were tearing it up in Telluride, but many more athletes competed in Aspen and Snowbird, Utah, for dual moguls competitions, pinning two racers side-by-side with only the winner of each head-to-head race advancing to the next round. George McQuinn won the Intermountain single and dual mogul overall championships, and Trudy Mickel claimed the U15 singles over two days of competition in Aspen.

Charlie Mickel claimed gold and silver in events for U13 skiers, and Trudy Mickel finished fifth overall in dual moguls. Carter McQuinn also took 12th overall in Snowbird.

The team has another weekend to prepare for the next big race, and it will come on its home slope of Purgatory Jan. 30-31. Single qualifier moguls will be held Jan. 30, and Devo moguls will be contested Sunday. Racing is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days.

heraldsports@durangoherald.com

Apr 21, 2020
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