Youth skiers race to top in Kinder Kup

Drew Wingard and Sophia Staudenmayer of Glenshire Elementary and the Squaw Valley Ski Team each skied to first-place finishes in the final stop of the Kinder Kup Race Series at Heavenly on March 16.

The event featured close to 60 kids ages 6 and younger competing.

Throughout the series, athletes earned points based on top-15 finishes in each of the three races, making them eligible for the overall series titles.

Wingard won the boys’ overall series title with a perfect score of 75 (winning all three races), with Gunnar Barnwell taking second overall with 55 points and Logan Chapman third with 32 points. The top three finishers were presented with trophies, with Wingard being crowned with a pirate hat.

In Sunday’s race, Wingard (42.92) and Barnwell (45.33) went 1-2, with Cameron Butterworth, also from Truckee, third (45.91), Zach Dill fourth (47.01) and Wesley Steinkopft fifth (48.52).

A tiara was placed atop Faith Cooper’s head as she was crowned the girls’ overall series winner with 70 points, followed by Staudenmayer in second (60 points) and Becca Waterson third (23 points). Staudenmayer won Sunday’s race with a combined time of 46.01. Faith Cooper was second (47.32), Daniela Moroz third (47.83), Jordan Smith fourth (51.26) and Aliza Neu fifth (51.78).