From the back seat, Vail's Gregorak flies

Click to Enlarge Browse Vail Daily Photos Ski & Snowboard Club Vail racer Will Gregorak blasts through a slalom gate Sunday during his second run of the Colorado Ski Cup at Beaver Creek. Gregorak had the best run to move up from 10th into second overall. Kristin Anderson/Vail Daily Get Sports Feeds

Ian Cropp
Vail, CO Colorado
April 6, 2008

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BEAVER CREEK, Colorado — Whether he’s skiing from the seat of his pants or in the back seat, Will Gregorak finds plenty of speed.

On Sunday, two days after he took second in a giant slalom despite a hip check, Gregorak placed second in a Colorado Ski Cup slalom at Beaver Creek.

“I just kind of leaned back the whole way, which isn’t too consistent, but if you can pull it off, it can be fast,” said Gregorak, who competes with Ski & Snowboard Club Vail. “It was a bit of a straight set down the pitch, so it wasn’t anything too bad, but that could catch you off guard.”

Gregorak was in 10th place after the first run, almost a second out of the top spot, but on his second pass, Gregorak flew down the short slalom course on Bear Trap to finish with the best run. After the final nine racers came down, Gregorak’s total time of 1 minute, 14.58 seconds stood for second place. The U.S. Ski Team’s Will Brandenburg won at 1:14.35, with teammates Paul McDonald (1:14.81) and Tim Kelley (1:14.98) in third and fourth, respectively. McDonald and Kelley went 1-2 in Saturday’s slalom. Buck Hill’s Michael Ankeney, a J2 skier, tied for fifth Sunday (1:15.63), while Iced Out Racing’s Hunter Schleper, another J2, was 10th (1:16.54).

Although the U.S. team’s season officially ended at last month’s national championships, several racers like Brandenburg are still hitting the gates.

“We came to lower the penalty and help out the rest of U.S. skiing,” Brandenburg said. “When we race, the penalty gets lowered, and everyone’s start position gets better when they race internationally.”

Start positions are based on a points system, and racers earn lower points (which is better) by earning top finishes alongside racers who already have low points.
Sunday’s race, which had 140 men on the start list, featured a mix of U.S. Ski Team members, collegiate racers and junior racers.

“The college guys don’t get to train as much as we do, but they come out to these races and they are right there with us or beating us,” Brandenburg said. “It’s pretty unbelievable skiing by a lot of those guys.”

Denver University’s Ian Lockhead, who led after the first run, was the top collegiate finisher in seventh. The University of Utah’s Thomas Zumbrunn was eighth, and the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Drew Roberts was ninth.

Gregorak, a high schooler who will graduate later this spring, skipped his prom Saturday night.

“That was the strategy,” he said. “I knew Schleper was going to prom, and I said if I didn’t go to prom, I could beat him today.”

After Sunday’s result, Gregorak’s slalom points should drop considerably and move him into the top three for his age group. Schleper, who had the best finish among local skiers in Saturday’s slalom — 11th and just a shade over a second off the winning mark — dropped his slalom points, too. Ankeney currently holds the No. 1 spot in slalom for 1991 birthdates, with Schleper right behind.

SSCV’s Paul Britvar, starting with the No. 30 bib, finished 17th, while teammate Bryan Shpall moved up from the No. 69 bib to take 22nd. Iced Out Racing’s Kieffer Christianson, a first-year J2, placed 27th wearing the No. 83 bib.
Much of Sunday’s field plans on competing in races at Mammoth Mountain in California, including the U.S. team skiers.

“A couple of my buddies need to score some results to requalify for the U.S. Ski Team,” Brandenburg said.

Bookend
In the women’s slalom, Eva Huckova overtook Petra Zakourilova in the second run to win.

Huckova, who skis for the University of Utah, won Thursday’s Colorado Ski Cup giant slalom at Vail. Zakourilova, who led by just 0.03 seconds after the first run Sunday, was second in Saturday’s slalom.

The University of Denver’s Clair Abbe took third, while junior racer Julia Wong moved up from eighth to fourth thanks to the second-bast time on her final pass. Malin Hemmingsson, a skier for the University of New Mexico, moved up from 12th to take fifth. Former U.S. Ski Team racer and Edwards resident Kristina Koznick was sixth.

Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s Georgia Wettlaufer was 17th for the second day in a row, while teammate Joelle Chevalier claimed the top J2 spot at 20th overall. Chevalier was 21st on Saturday.

Closing the cup
Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s Alex Leever doesn’t seem too daunted by an international start list. Leever, a J4, closed out his Whistler Cup campaign with a third-place finish in Sunday’s slalom.

“This is his first international competition,” said SSCV coach Dan Stripp. “He had a really good week.”

Leever, who had the third-best times in both runs, placed 10th in Saturday’s giant slalom.

SSCV’s Kaytlyn Samuelson, a J3, took 10th in Sunday’s giant slalom. Samuelson was 13th in Saturday’s slalom. Fellow J3 skier Greta Byrne placed second in Saturday’s slalom — her second silver in as many days.

“She had a great day (Saturday),” Stripp said. “She won the first run.”
Sean McCormick, a J3 with SSCV, was 16th Saturday in the slalom and 36th in Sunday’s giant slalom.

Sports Writer Ian Cropp can be reached at 748-2935 or icropp@vaildaily.com.