Northwest Cup – SARS and Mt Spokane jointly hosted races for the top U16s and older in the Northwest on Thursday, Jan. 27, through Saturday, Jan 29.

Only two local men competed, that being Cadin Bilstin and Crosby Schmidt.

Bilstin finished 16th and 17th in Giant Slalom.

Schmidt finished ninth in Slalom, fourth in the Under 16 class and 21st and 29th in two of the Giants Slaloms.

Four races in four days called for patience and focus throughout, for the girls, Avery Edmundson finished 23rd, 25th, and 31st in Giant Slalom. She capped it off with a 28th placed finish in Slalom.

Her Sister, Erika, finished 23rd, 33rd, and 37th in Giant Slalom and 17th in Slalom. Madeline Mitchel finished 51st in the Giant Slalom race.

Hannah Stiller placed 25th, 26th, and 29th in Giant Slalom and 21st in Slalom.

These athletes will travel to Crystal Mountain, Washington, on Feb. 5, for the Northwest Cup Slalom competition.

Nordic Racing – On Saturday, Jan. 22, three Sandpoint Nordic racers participated in the "Seeley Lake Skiesta," which is a part of the Montana Nordic Cup race series.

Fletcher Barrett finished first overall in the 5K skate race with a time of 13:36.24.

Pax Longanecker finished ninth overall, third in his age group, in the 5K skate race with a time of 15:09.97.

Jett Longanecker finished second overall in the 10K skate race with a time of 28:28.87.

On Sunday, Jan. 23, Longanecker and Barrett competed in the "Nordic Dance Challenge," in Missoula, Montana, which is also part of the Montana Nordic Cup race series. Longanecker finished third overall in the 10K Skate with a time of 31:55.11.

Barrett finished sixth in the 10K Skate with a time of 33:03.38.

Nordic Racing continued – Three skiers from the Sandpoint Nordic Team participated in the second junior national qualifier at West Yellowstone, MT Saturday Jan. 29 through Sun Jan 30.

Isabella Waters finished fourth in the 1.5K skate race with a time of 4:04.75 which allowed her to advance to the finals of the event where she also finished fourth.

Callahan Waters finished fourth in the U16 male 1.5K Skate race qualifier with a time of 3:20.50.

After the finish, he made it all the way to the final elimination heats where he finished 10th overall.

Barrett finished 16th in the U16 male, 1.5K skate race qualifier with a time of 3:35.59.

He advanced to the quarterfinal heats where he finished 19th.

On Sunday, Isabella Waters finished fourth in the U14 female 3K classic race with a time of 10:01.5.

This is her fourth race in a row where she’s missed the podium.

Callahan Waters finished 14th in the U16 male 5K classic race with a time of 16:03.0. Barrett finished in 19th place in the U16 male 5K classic race with a time of 16:16.8

Independence Junior Race Series – The final day of competition was held under perfect conditions.

This series focused on improvement which was seen throughout.

The fastest boy was Landon Buoy, followed by Logan Johnston.

The fastest girl was Halle Wyman, followed by Faith Stephany.

The Most Improved girl was Winslow Cox, followed by Constance Ferris.

The Most Improved boy was awarded to Sebastian Steidl, followed by Anders Trygstad. The most improved team was Aurora Borealis who is coached by Carlos Suarez and Daniel Lynch.

Ice cream was served at the awards party and every athlete received a raffle prize.

Our special thanks to the coaches who make this event possible along with the many local merchants who support us with prizes. Hope to see you all next year!

Starlight Racing – The big kids come out to play Fridays in February. Scoring is based upon the NASTAR handicap with adjustments for age and mode of transit (Alpine, Snowboard, Telemark).

Potpourri - Watch here next week for a full report on Starlight racing, the Emerald Empire Youth Ski League slalom races at Mt Spokane, and the Northwest Cup Slaloms at Crystal Mountain.

Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by email at shep@thesnowschool.com. Negative feedback should be sent to someone else.