Soda Springs -- Austin Meng cruised to victory in the CNISSF Nordic skiing State Championship at Auburn Ski Club Saturday. His one-minute margin of victory in the freestyle (skating) portion of the two-day championship race ensured his seemingly effortless win. "I was taking it easy on the second lap," Meng said afterward, "and only really hammering on the uphills."

The two-day State Championship event tested athletes' mettle in both the classic (diagonal striding) and freestyle technique. Friday was an individual start 5-kilometer classic race that also tested coaches' prowess, as snow started to fall just before the race began. Sugar Bowl Academy junior, Austin Meng finished that race in first place, with a lead of less than one second over Truckee High School senior Alex Hamilton.

On Saturday, athletes began the skate race based on their finish time in Friday's race. The start was electric, with Meng and Hamilton flying out of the stadium to the roar of the crowd lining the course. The next competitor to start, Truckee's Justin Ondry, was nearly a minute behind the pair, making the race for first place a two-man competition. By the time they finished their first 2.5 km lap Meng had a solid lead, which he widened on his second trip around the course. If there had been a flag handy for him to carry through the stadium on his way to the finish, he could have mimicked some of the more dominant Olympic Nordic skiers from these past weeks in Vancouver.

Many of the 100-plus spectators who drove to Auburn Ski Club to watch the races were impressed with Meng's performance. His coach, Sugar Bowl Academy's Jeff Schloss, called the race Meng's best of the season. "Classic skiing is not Austin's strength," he said, "so to see him win the race on Friday was awesome. His performance in Saturday's skate race shows what a great skier he's become."

After Meng (27:54.0) and Hamilton (28:54.10), the top finishers at the State Championships on Saturday were North Tahoe's Miles Heapes (29:26.3), and Truckee's Carson Lindsay (29:30.7), and Justin Ondry (29:50.3). For complete results, see www.farwestnordic.org.

Sugar Bowl Ski Team skiers claimed 9 of the top 15 spots at the men's GS race at Squaw Valley on February 23rd. Taking all three podium spots were Mark Engel, Jake Perkins, and Jake Scannell with Will Kanellos in fourth. Also in the top 15 were Adam Barwood, Dylan Brooks, Scott Cooper, Brent Talbott and James Clifford. Great skiing guys! RESULTS

SBA senior Jacqui Lebel won the ladies GS at Northstar on the same day as the men's podium sweep at Squaw. Lebel completed the two runs over 2.5 seconds faster than the sceond place skier. SBA skiers Sonia Giacomazzi, Zoe Fiorio and Grace Hutton alos finished in the top 15. All around, this was a great performance by the SBST team. RESULTS

Through 6 of 9 Wild West qualifying races, 12 Sugar Bowl Academy J3s are in position to qualify for Junior Olympics. Highlights from the Wild West races so far include wins in both GS and Slalom by SBA freshman Ty Sprock and top ten finishes by Marc Talbott, Chris Fitzpatrick, Riley Plant, Scotty Lebel, and Charlie Klein. On the ladies side, SBA 8th grader Anna Harleen has posted consistent top ten results with teammates Chase Hommeyer, Alexandra Alvarez, Clare Carroll and Perry Schaffner all posting first page finishes. Congratulations to all the J3s and good luck heading into this weekend's Super Gs at Northstar. RESULTS

SBA junior Austin Meng and sophomore Kelly Habibi both qualified for the Nordic Junior Olympic Competition in Presque Isle, ME. Habibi has had a solid season of improvement while Meng has established himself as one of the Western Regions strongest skiers. Congratulation to both skiers and good luck in Maine!

Sugar Bowl Academy juniors Troy Cohee and Scott Cooper will join SBST skier Foreste Peterson in representing the Far West at the upcoming J2 National competition in Sugarloaf, ME. Cohee and Cooper have posted consistent top 10 J2 finishes this season, while Peterson is one of the nations top ranked J2 skiers. Good luck to these athletes as they head East to battle the ice and wind of Maine.

SBA senior Jacqui Lebel has been named to the W.E.S.T. (Western Elite Ski Team) along with three SBST teammates. The W.E.S.T team is comprised of the best skiers in the Western division and serves as a pipeline for national team selections. Also named to the W.E.S.T team from Sugar Bowl are Mark Engel, Jake Perkins, and Foreste Peterson.

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