J4 State Super G features six Okemo/OMS athletes: (from left to right) Owen Skinner, Will Beney, Sean Pomerantz, Danny King, Connor Laurion, Aidan Riley.
Submitted by Okemo Mtn School
Okemo and Okemo Mountain School are proud to announce five qualifiers to this weekend’s J4 Alpine Ski Racing Eastern Championships in Sunday River, Maine. The five boys earned this privilege through their performance at the J4 State Championships held at Pico Mountain last weekend and at Stratton the first weekend in March. Athletes’ best three place points, including single runs and combined times, were summed to rank them for qualification. Sean Pomerantz, who was named overall J4 State Champion, qualified first to the event with Will Beney, Connor Marschke, Aidan Riley, and Connor Laurion qualifying 6th, 9th, 12th, and 13th respectively. Vermont will send 26 total male and female athletes to the event where they will compete against qualifiers from all of the other Eastern states.
The road to qualification through States proved to be an exciting one. In the State Super G race, 6 Okemo/OMS athletes placed in the top ten – Sean Pomerantz, Connor Laurion, Owen Skinner, Will Beney, Danny King and Aidan Riley finished 1st, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th respectively. The tech events, slalom and giant slalom, proved to be a bit more challenging. Sean Pomerantz placed 3rd in the slalom, Will Beney 7th, and Luke Valentine 11th. Moving into the State GS race, Pomerantz and Beney had pretty much assured their trip to Easterns, but the other three had some work to do. Aidan Riley had an average first run in GS and needed to do well in his second to earn his spot and he did just that! Riley was had the second fastest second run, which put him in fifth overall, and were the two place points he needed to advance to Easterns. Laurion needed to earn a top 15 overall finish and with his second run he did, placing 13th overall. Connor Marschke entered the GS race needing to do well on both runs and overall – he needed three solid place points to advance. Marschke laid it all on the line and pushed the limit both runs, earning him the necessary 3rd overall in GS and qualifying him for Eastern Championships.
Okemo Mountain Resort and Okemo Mountain School are proud of our J4 athletes for their accomplishments and wish them good luck at the J4 Eastern Championships in Maine this weekend!
Okemo Mountain Resort and Okemo Mountain School partner through the Okemo Competition Center to provide top notch ski racing training for athletes aged 6-18. Okemo Mountain School is a non-profit educational institution dedicated to the academic and athletic development of serious snow sports athletes. Student athletes are given the opportunity to train in alpine ski racing, snowboarding, and freestyle skiing, while pursuing a rigorous course of academic study.
For further information, please contact Mariel Meringolo at mmeringolo@okemomountainschool.org or 802.228.1513.
