[FWM News] Far West Nationals Results

[Far West Masters news]

Thirty-two racers from Far West traveled to Sun Valley ID the week of March 15-20 for the 2015 
Phillips 66 National Championships. Team members gathered from their homes across California and 
Nevada, leaving warm (50-60 degree) temps in the Sierra and arriving in Sun Valley to find... warm 
(50-60 degree) temps!

The week's racing opened with Super-Combined (SC) races for the C/D and A/B groups on Monday and 
Tuesday, respectively. With overnight temperatures not reaching freezing, the Sun Valley race crew 
was faced with a major challenge to prepare the SG and SL track on Warm Springs. Thanks to a lot of 
hard work, some much-appreciated advice and assistance from "the PNSA boys", and critical 
contributions of fertilizer for hill preparation from local racer/potato-farmer Jackson Allred, the 
crew was able to stabilize the course and we had two exciting days of successful SC racing to open 
the championship week. Although the SC is not counted in scoring for class combined national 
champions, it is included in both Divisions Cup and the Spyder national masters team rankings, so 
points as well as pride were on the line for the 200+ racers competing at nationals.

Cooler overnight temperatures were a welcome change on Tuesday evening, with Wednesday's SG race 
contested by all groups under classic Sun Valley sunny skies and a firm track on Warm Springs that 
provided a consistent race surface for all competitors. Good weather continued for Thurday's GS 
races, with the C/D groups racing one last time on Warm Springs while the A/B men moved to 
neighboring Hemingway/Greyhawk. Friday's final day of racing was a SL carnival with groups rotating 
among three separate courses on Hemingway and Cozy, with firm conditions for all.

The week wrapped up with a loose and happy crowd of racers, friends, and family at the final 
banquet on Friday evening. After an excellent buffet meal, the final day's race awards and the 
overall class combined champions were announced. Far West was well-represented all week, with 16 of 
our 32 team members winning medals and four named to the 2016 Spyder national masters team: Carol 
Levine (W09), Linda Crowell (W08), Pierre Jeangirard (M08), and Ara Papazian (M05). 

(Ski racing tip: never give up - Ara hiked in the final day's SL and cemented his lead in the 
overall rankings for "the jacket"!)

The final award of the night was the Division's Cup, awarded to the division with the best ratio of 
results per start for the entire week. Far West was close all week, but on the final day the 
leading Rocky team posted another day of strong finishes and headed home to Colorado with the cup.

Complete Sun Valley nationals results on ussamasters.org:
http://ussamasters.org/nationals

Division medalists:
http://ussamasters.org/reports/2015/nationals/ES-MedalCounts-MedalCounts-ByAffiliation.html

Spyder national masters team:
http://ussamasters.org/reports/2015/nationals/SpyderTeam2016.pdf

Congratulations to everyone who traveled to Sun Valley and competed in a week of challenging 
racing! Winning medals at nationals is an honor, but a lasting prize won by all is the experiences 
of competing, challenging yourself, and making friends from around the country.