Masters: Green adds another crown at Nationals

Benjamin Green from the Eastern division added the Super G overall crown to his Downhill victory on Tuesday. Class six racer Erik Klemme from Rocky Mountain division sat in the hot seat early in the race as the leader and had to wonder if his 1:02.40 would hold up. Once again, he waited for the last several racers down the hill.Benjamin Green from the Eastern division added the Super G overall crown to his Downhill victory on Tuesday. Class six racer Erik Klemme from Rocky Mountain division sat in the hot seat early in the race as the leader and had to wonder if his 1:02.40 would hold up. Once again, he waited for the last several racers down the hill.
 
Technology is wonderful– as spectators got to watch the splits and interval times on www.live-timing.com on their Blackberries slope-side, adding to the drama. Klemme was knocked out of the hot seat late in the race by Luke Hiebert, by only twenty-nine hundredths of a second. Hiebert won two intervals, but came up short as Green improved every interval down the course, nailing the bottom portion of the Cascades. All three racers won at least one interval, and Klemme retained the fastest time in the speed trap at 60.23 mph.
 
In Group D action, New York racers Bob Andree and Pepi Neubauer battled for not only the overall lead, but for their age class. Neubauer took the early lead with a strong run winning the first two splits. Andree was yellow flagged off the course near the middle and sent up for a re-run. While Neubauer won the top two intervals, Andree improved all the way to the bottom, the portion he had not already skied, winning the bottom of the course and was the fastest in the speed trap at 58.47 mph. Knut Olberg from Pacific Northwest took third.
 
Rocky Mountain racer Jennifer Kaufman added super g to her collection of National Titles as she held off Eastern racer Jessie McAleer by 2.22 seconds. McAleer was only .48 mph off Kaufman in the speed trap. Eastern’s Beata Wiktor rallied for third.
 
Matt Howard, the Chief of Timing and Calculations at Sunday River has provided what every Masters racer cherishes — data, data and more data. Four interval splits along the course and speed traps in the downhill and super g has added to the polished presentation that the Sunday River race crew has provided at these National Championships.
 
Kaufman and Klemme were also named the 2009 Molecule F National Speed Series Overall Champions. Age class winners were also presented with silver belt buckles for their season long efforts.
 
Race results available at:

Mens A/B Group
https://www.ussamasters.org/reports/2009/nationals/20090326-SundayRiver-SG-GroupAB-Overall.html

Women and Older Men’s Group
https://www.ussamasters.org/reports/2009/nationals/20090326-SundayRiver-SG-GroupCD-Overall.html

Molecule F Speed Series Age Class Winners: https://www.ussamasters.org/reports/2009/nss/ES-NSS2009-WCPoints-ByClass.html