By Jim Forster, USA Team Select Chairman
The U.S. Team Trials were held on Sunday, August 25th, the day after the conclusion of the U.S. Barefoot Nationals at the Blue Moo in Alma Center, Wisconsin.
A total of 26 skiers that had received invitations to participate competed in tricks, slalom and jump for a spot on the roster of the U.S. Junior, Senior and Elite Teams. All of the skiers had posted a qualifying score to ski as an independent in the upcoming 2020 World Barefoot Championships in at least one event.
The U.S. Team Trials differ from a traditional tournament in that The Team Select Committee had identified events that the individual skier’s score would contribute to the Overall Scoring for a team medal. Based on that data, the committee had skiers scheduled in only certain events, some in just one event. Based on the results, the Committee will make a decision on which skiers to select for each team.
The event produced some exciting skiing as skiers of all ages battled it out for a spot on the U.S. Team.
Jump was the last event to be held as the South’s Brett Swanbom became one of the youngest skiers in history to land an inverted jump in a tournament at the age of 13! Also the duel between the Midwest’s Cody Heller and the South’s Mikey Caruso did not disappoint as both skiers put up big scores to finish out the event.
The Team Select Committee would like to thank all of the skiers that participated in the Team Trials as it is an honor to be considered for a US Team. I would like to give a HUGE thank you to Chief Scorer Mark Shank, Chief Judge Dale Stevens, Chief Homologator Paul Adams, Chief Safety Chuck Bender and Chief Driver Mike Schoenke for all their
hard work, as we couldn’t have done it without them!
Also a special thanks goes out to Andrew Martin, Deanna Dean, Ben Groen, Doug Jordan, Ryan Gilman, Rick Meskers, VonL Adams, Martin Cyr, Blake Ehlers, and Betsy Gilman for their hard work in all the various positions that made the event run smoothly. Thank You!
Stay tuned in the near future as the Team Select Committee will be hard at work, weighing each skier’s scores to determine who will make it and represent the U.S. down under in the upcoming 2020 World Barefoot Championships in Sydney, Australia.
American Barefoot Club 