Skiers, snowboarders open season with solid showings in icy conditions at App State

Sunday, January 11

Blowing Rock, NC

8:00 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

Rail Jam @ App State Mountain

Flames sophomore team captain competes in Saturday's Rail Jam at Appalachian Ski Mountain. (Photos by Andrew Smith)

Skiers, snowboarders open season with solid showings in icy conditions at App State

1/16/2026 10:30:00 PM | Ski & Snowboard

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After practicing in the fall semester on the plastic slopes at Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre, the Flames and Lady Flames will start practices at Wintergreen on Friday before another USCSA Southeast Region competition next weekend at Beech Mountain.

Gallery: (1-16-2026) Ski and snowboard at App State

Liberty University's men's and women's ski and snowboard teams showcased polished skills and plenty of potential at their spring semester debuts at this past Sunday's USCSA Southeast Regional competition at Appalachian Ski Mountain in Blowing Rock, N.C.

The Flames and Lady Flames held their own in the two freestyle events, competing against skiers and riders from host Appalachian State University, James Madison University, Lees-McRae (N.C.) College, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and UNC Charlotte in the morning Slopestyle and afternoon Rail Jam events.

Head Coach Tyler Sherbine said the competition was a great way to kick off a the semester schedule leading up to the Feb. 21-22 USCSA Southeast Regional Championships at Snowshoe (W.Va.) Mountain and the March 8-14 USCSA National Championships at Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid, N.Y.

"We took our whole travel team, which came back into town early from Winter Break," Sherbine said. "We're happy to be back. It's the most exciting time of the year. You practice all fall and wonder what the winter will look like. Winter's here, and I'm excited to get going."

On Saturday, the team practiced in rain with temperatures in the upper 50-degree range before they dropped into the 20s overnight, with the slopes icing over and the rain turning to snow.

"All that rain turned to ice on Sunday, and it was a pretty firm course for Slopestyle, but it was good," Sherbine said. "It was snowy but extremely icy, which is scarier, harder to keep an edge, and hurts more when you fall. They adjusted well to it and exceeded my expectations. I'm super proud of them."

Liberty's women's ski team had four of the top five finishers to win the Slopestyle competition in a landslide, paced by freshmen Danah Osborne (first, 53.0) and Kennedy Denecker (second, 50.5). Lees-McRae's Autumn Peters (50.0) placed third, followed by Lady Flames freshman Cecilia Tinney (fourth, 48.0) and sophomore Caroline Meehan (fifth, 45.5). Liberty totaled 7 points to place well in front of both L-MC (17) and UNC (20).

On the men's side, the Flames swept the top four places to dominate the Slopestyle competition with 6 points compared to 24 for both JMU and UNC. Sophomore Jack Swartzentruber won with a best run scoring 88.5 points, followed by junior Blake Stillman (80), sophomore captain Eli Malek (79.5), and senior Cameron Brandenburg (72.5).

Liberty's snowboarders were not as dominant, with the women totaling 18 points to finish runner-up to L-MC (12) and ahead of the host Mountaineers (19) and Dukes (45), and the men scoring 24 points to land in third behind L-MC (11) and ASU (18) and ahead of JMU (49), UNCC (57), and UNC (64).

Freshman Hailey Lemke (48.5), junior Izzy Melvin (46.5), and graduate Maddie Morgan (46) placed fifth, sixth, and in a three-way tie for seventh, respectively, to lead the Lady Flames while freshman Julian Cook (51.5, tied for fourth) and junior Christian Bassoo and freshman Finn Stogner (50, tied for 10th) paced the Flames.

In the Rail Jam held later in the day, Liberty, which practiced throughout the fall semester on its freestyle park at the Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre, finished first in three of the four disciplines.

The Flames' skiers won with 7 points over JMU (21) and UNC (23) with Malek and Brandenburg finishing 1-2 to steal the show, and Stillman (fourth) and sophomore Jacob Van Rossum (sixth) also landing solid runs. Meanwhile, Denecker, Osborne, Tinney, and Meehan finished 2-3-4-5 to pace the Lady Flames (9) to a clear victory over L-MC (15, paced by Peters' first-place performance), and UNC (20).

Liberty's women's snowboarders also won by placing three riders in the top nine — Morgan (first), Lemke (fourth), and Melvin (ninth) — to total 14 team points and edge L-MC (18), ASU (21), and JMU (42).

The Flames' snowboarders totaled 18 points to place second to LMC (9 points) and ahead of ASU (36), JMU (51), UNC (66), and UNCC (70) on the strength of Cook's first-place showing as well as Bassoo's sixth-place finish and Chase Roberts' 11th-place performance.

"Everyone at this competition did what was expected of them," Sherbine said, noting the Flames were missing one of their best snowboarders, freshman Syrus Castanaga-Acerra. "He had to stay home, and we are excited for him to start riding."

The Flames and Lady Flames will next travel to the Beech Mountain (N.C.) Ski Resort for Rail Jam and Slopestyle competitions on Jan. 24-25 before going to Mount Snow (Vt.) to prepare for regionals at Snowshoe and to Seven Springs (Pa.) Mountain Resort to sharpen their edges and extend their jumps for nationals.

"It's going to be a really good year," Sherbine said. "We have a really good group of guys and girls. The ski team is the best we've seen it as a whole, and we have a bunch of new snowboarders who are killing it. They have already shown tremendous growth from early in the fall to now, so if that trajectory continues, we're going to look really good in the postseason."

He said the culture on the team is strong, even with only 40 percent of the roster returning from last season.

"It's a relatively young team, but we have a really good dynamic this year, with lots of people hanging out after practice," Sherbine said. "It is good to see that, because that translates to how they perform and ride, and improves the motivation behind the riding. They did a lot of bonding through fall trips and fall practices, and there was a lot of laughter on the bus. The slopes (at App State) weren't in great shape, but there was not much complaining at all. Everybody's happy to be riding together."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer