Page 15 - Flathead Beacon // 12.18.13

FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS DECEMBER 18, 2013 | 15

Voisin Lands on Podium at Olympic Qualifying Event
Drop of a new

and unwrapped
Whiteish freeskier
places third on her 15th
toy for
birthday to brighten her
TOYS
Olympic prospects

By DILLON TABISH of the Beacon
FOR TOTS
Maggie Voisin celebrated her birth-
day in style on Saturday. The Whiteish
freeskier landed on the podium at one of

the main Olympic qualiier events, im-
proving her chances of competing in the
upcoming Sochi Winter Games.
Voisin placed third in the Women’s
Freeski Slopestyle Final at the Dew
Tour iON Mountain Championships in
Breckenridge, Colo., on Saturday. She
placed second among American compet-

itors behind only Devin Logan, who won
the event.
Maggie Voisin is one of the rising stars in the freeskiing world. FILE PHOTO BY LIDO VIZZUTTI | FLATHEAD BEACON
“To get on the podium, it means a
lot,” Voisin told USA Today.
Voisin entered the inale as the top- pic Freeskiing Team. Freeskiing is mak- The Dew Tour event was Voisin’s
seeded competitor after winning the ing its debut at the Winter Games.
irst and one of ive sanctioned events
qualifying round last week. The eight Voisin, one of the nation’s rising that will determine the lineup of Ameri-

and receive a
competitors were vying for the Dew stars in the freeski world, turned 15 on can skiers attending the Olympics.
Cup but also the opportunity to position Saturday, making her eligible for Sochi. [email protected]
$5.00
themselves for the irst-ever U.S. Olym-
Competitors must be 15 by Dec. 31.

Morley Places Eighth at Foot Locker National Championship

git card to
Bigfork junior earns
North Bay Grille
All-American honors at

Foot Locker Cross Coun-

try National Finals

By DILLON TABISH of the Beacon

Makena Morley crossed the inish
line one more time this year and con-
cluded a remarkable season with All-
American honors.
The Bigfork junior placed eighth Sat-

urday at the 35th annual Foot Locker
Cross Country Championships National
Finals in San Diego. It capped her his-
toric cross country season with her best
inish at the de facto national champion-
ship event.
In a race featuring 40 of the best high
school runners in the nation, Montana’s
Makena Morley, far left, crosses the inish line with a pack of runners at the Foot Locker Cross County
lone competitor clocked 17 minutes, 43 Championships National Finals on Saturday in San Diego. PHOTO CREDIT PHOTORUN.NET | COURTESY FOOT LOCKER CROSS COUNTRY
seconds in the ive-kilometer race and
inished in a tight pack of six runners Locker Western Regional in muddy con- It earned Makena her third consecu-
all within 12 seconds of each other. As ditions and rainy weather. She captured tive Class B title as well as a shout out in
a freshman, she ran 17:40 and placed the 5K title in 18:06. She won by 20 sec- the Nov. 11 edition of Sports Illustrated.
ninth. Last year she ran 18:12 and placed onds to claim her irst Foot Locker re- The leet-footed junior hasn’t missed a
24th.
gional victory after placing third both as step since the high school season end-

Tessa Barrett, a senior from Waver- a sophomore and freshman.
ed. She qualiied for the Nike Cross Na-
ly, Penn., won in 17:16. Hannah DeBal- Morley’s junior season will stand out tionals after placing second at the Nike
139 1ST AVENUE WEST, si, a sophomore from Westport, Conn., in Montana’s history books. Earlier this Northwest Regional in Boise. She ran
KALISPELL placed second, 17:26. Grant Fisher of fall, Morley broke Zoe Nelson’s 2002 all- the 5,000-meter championship race in
755-4441 Grand Blanc, Mich., won the boys race class state record, clocking 16:50 at the 17:36, inishing nine seconds behind
in 15:07.
championship meet in Missoula and irst-place Alexa Efraimson of Oregon.
WWW.NBGRILLE.COM
Two weeks ago, Morley won the Foot
shattering the old mark by 15 seconds.
[email protected]

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