Liberty's 18 men's and women's ski and snowboard travel team members assemble on Sunday morning.
Skiers, snowboarders shred USCSA Southeast competition at Beech Mountain
1/24/2024 11:54:00 AM | Ski & Snowboard
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The Flames and Lady Flames finished first individually in all eight categories of competition and first as a team in six of the eight events.
Liberty University's men's and women's ski and snowboard teams landed in first place individually in all eight events, sweeping the podium in three of the four Rail Jams, at this past weekend's season-opening USCSA competition, hosted by Lees-McRae (N.C.) University at Beech Mountain Ski Resort.
As a team the Flames and Lady Flames finished first in six events, taking runner-up honors to Appalachian State University by narrow margins in both the women's Slopestyle and Rail Jam.
"It was amazing, I was so impressed," first-year Head Coach Tyler Sherbine said, noting brutally cold conditions made Saturday's Slopestyle event more challenging atop the 5,500-foot-tall mountain. "It was freezing, with a high of about 8 degrees and it was snowing and pretty windy, so not ideal conditions, competing in Slopestyle in a blizzard, but we still did well."
The storm cleared overnight and allowed the Flames and Lady Flames to shine brightly in what is usually their strongest event, the Rail Jam.
"Sunday was perfect weather, about 25-30 degrees and real sunny," Sherbine said. "It was just cool to see all of the sweat equity pay off from the fall (semester training) for the first time (in competition). That was really rewarding, taking our first trip together, and it went great. It was cool to see the bonding built just over one trip and you can really see the progress from the fall be transferred onto the snow, which was cool, as well."
The Flames traveled with six skiers and six snowboarders while the Lady Flames entered three skiers and three snowboarders into the two events.
A surprise medalist was Liberty senior snowboarder Carlton Leggett, who had a best run of 69.0 points to edge junior teammate Tate Gardener (68.5) in Saturday's Slopestyle event, which the Flames won with 10 points followed by Appalachian State (15), Lees-McRae (30), JMU (65), UNC-Chapel Hill (74), Virginia (75), Â UNC Charlotte (84), Duke (84), and Georgia Tech (103).
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Conditions were favorable for Sunday's Rail Jams atop Beech Mountain at 5,500 feet.
Leggett also placed second to senior captain Jesse Mast (76.5-74) in Sunday's Rail Jam while senior Jayden Horrocks edged Gardener (73-72.5) to place third and Curren Cook (71) helped the Flames to a 1-through-5 sweep.
"(Senior) Andrew Smith broke his elbow last week and will be out for the season, which is why Carlton stepped up onto the travel team," Sherbine said, noting that he competed on the developmental team the past two seasons. "He stepped up and did really well. Conditions were horrible (Saturday), and he pushed through that and was able to perform really well. Both his jumps and rails were great, and he put down a run he really needed to (to win)."
In the men's ski Slopestyle event, sophomore Justin Maier (75.5) and junior Coby Liebelt (73) finished first and second, respectively, for the Flames, who accumulated 9 points to dominate JMU (16), Virginia (22), North Carolina State (65), Duke (67), and UNC-Chapel Hill (77). On the men's ski Rail Jam, Maier (68.5) nipped fellow sophomore Cameron Brandenburg (67) and Liebelt (65.5) for a podium sweep, followed by junior Charlie Barkow (fifth, 63.5.) As a team Liberty won with 6 points followed by UVA (28), Duke (31), Georgia Tech (38), NC State (65), and UNC Chapel Hill (74).Â
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First- and third-place performances by seniors Bella Tinney (41) and Josie Rich (38.5) helped Liberty's women's skiers win the Slopestyle event with 10 points, followed by UVA (21), Duke (31), Georgia Tech (38), JMU (38), and Lees-McRae (42). In the women's ski Rail Jam, Tinney (64.5), junior Lauren Harder (63.5), and Rich (61.5) completed a podium sweep to pace the Lady Flames (6) past Duke (29), JMU (24), and UVA (28).
In women's snowboarding Slopestyle, Liberty juniors Emmaus Rich (50) and Abbey Foreman (44) placed first and third, respectively, but the Lady Flames were edged by App State, 15-17, while beating UVA (20), Duke (31), JMU (46), and UNC-Chapel Hill (56). Similarly, in the women's snowboarding Rail Jam, Rich (66) and Foreman (59.5) finished first and fifth, respectively, but Liberty (13) placed second to Appalachian State (9), ahead of UVA (31), Duke (36), NC State (45), UNC-Chapel Hill (60), JMU (62), and Florida State (72). Â
This weekend, the Flames and Lady Flames will host the second USCSA Southeast Regional competition at the Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre (LMSC), with a Rail Jam set for Saturday at 5 p.m. followed by the Slopestyle event on Sunday at noon.
"There is a race earlier Saturday at Bryce Mountain, but we are expecting at least four teams, probably Virginia Tech, Virginia, JMU, and Lees-McRae, and possibly App State, but you never know," Sherbine said, noting that opposing teams in the region are often reluctant to compete at Snowflex as Liberty has a significant home-slope advantage.
Next weekend, Liberty will travel to Seven Springs (Pa.) for a practice trip on bigger jumps to prepare for the final USCSA regular-season competition at Wintergreen Resort on Feb. 10-11, the USCSA Southeast Regional Championships on Feb. 23-24 at Blue Mountain (Pa.), and the March 4-9 USCSA National Championships at White Mountain in Lake Placid, N.Y.
