| OCR Text |
Show 4 B 1'bt .inlt ftnb Ufr'ib\11\t Sunday, March 2, 1947 Opinions Va W urtele, Molitor Cop Ski Titles Rhoda Leads in Women's Field, Slalom Event Slated at Alta By JIMMY HODGSON SNOW BASIN~Karl Molitor, the swift Swiss shoemaker who makes an art of skiing, flashed out of the clouds around Mt. Ogden and streaked down the precipitous Wild~at run at a mile-a-minute speed to add the United States downhill championship to his long list of ski titles. Leaving a trail of whirling snow, ;----------------; Molitor the magnificent, rated Switzerland's No. 1 skier, became a part of the slick hickory sticks he was riding as he gracefully wove and wended his way down the 2500-foot drop. His time for the two-and-ahalf- mile course was 2 minutes 38.4 seconds. This time was a full four seconds better than Alf Engen of Sun Valley, former champ, and six seconds better than his teammate, Paul Valaer who finished third. Engen's tim~ was 2:42.8, and Valaer, 2:45. Canada dominated the women's division even more than Switzerland did the men's competition. The famed Wurtele sisters from Montreal, Rhoda and Rhona, finished one-two in the feminine competition with times of 2 :22.8 and 2 :28.4 for the testing twomile course. JOHNSON PLACES LACONIA, N.H., March 1 (AP) -Wendell Broomhall of Rumford, Me., and Roland Chivers of Franconia, N. H., raced over a 10-mlle course on Belknap mountains In 60 minutes 43 seconds Saturday to finish In a first-place tie for the eastem amateur ski cross-country championship title. Their times were about a minute better than their most pressing rivals, Don Johnson of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Paul Townsend, member of the University of New Hampshire faculty. The eastern jumping championships will be held here on Torger Tokle Memorial hill Sunday. ~he ~eet, said: "We have been fightmg 1ce and lack of snow in the east all year. It seemed awful good to get some deep snow. It was really wonderful today." Several outstanding skimen did not perform. Georgette Thioliere, French champion, was still confined in the Ogden hospital and unable to participate, and Corey Engen of the Snow Basin club had to drop out because of a back injury. Gordon Wren, who performed in the national jumping tournament at Ishpeming Friday, was unable to get to Ogden for the meet. The meet was run off In flawless fashion. The racers sped down the course at regular one-minute intervals. Time were reported as soon as they crossed the finish line and tabulations were made In record time. Chairman D o n Reddish credited the help of Ed Seagle, Bob Blakslee and Beth Crooks of Sun Valley for much of the success of the meet. The roads to snow basin were practically dry due to some prompt work by the state road commission and the traffic was handled well by the state highway patrol. The downhill race was the opening feature of the Utah Centennial sports program and It was an · auspicious debut. · I The race committee was still conl cerned over the Alta course !ale Sat• urday but planned to go ahead. More than 85 skitpen were busy all dayl ~aturday tramping down the 27- ~nches of snow that had fallen there m the past three days. .The tournament will be topped off wtth a Jmge award dinner at the Newhouse hotel Sunday evening. Men's Division 1. xKarl Molitor, Switzerland 2 ·38 4 2. xAlf Engen, Sun Valley 2 ·42 8 · · Third place went to pretty Paula Kann of New Hampshire, queen of the downhill competition last year. ' Paula had a time of 2 :32. The Swiss · misses, Rosmarie Bleuer and Antoinette Meyer, were well down the Jist in lOth and 11th places. Olivia Ausoni made , the best showing for 3. Paul Valaer, Switzerland' 2:45'o' 4. Don Goodman, Sun Valley, 2 :4·6.8. 2:4958. Phillip Puchner. New Hampshire, . 2 ,58:4.xJohn Litchfield, Aspen, Colo., · the Switzerland crew by ,finishing 2 ,5J:8.Colin Stewart, New Hampshire, fifth. ' Sunday the ski troupe moves to Alta. for the national slalom championships. The competition will get under way at 10 a.m., with all con- . testante making two runs. A crowd of about 6000 turned out " for thej !now show which national : aki offit~la rated one of the finest ALTA RACES Sunday's slalom races at Alta will get under way at 10 a.m. The heavy snows of the past week have been cleared away and the roads are open, but the state highway patrol reports that cars must have chains before they will• be allowed to go up the canyon. ever held from the standpoint of the caliber of contestants, snow conditions and operation. Molitor, the 27-year-old ch~mp, is Switzerland's undisputed champion In the downhill and slalom and also rated unofficially F I S world champ. Therefore, it was no surprise when he flashed off with the U. S. crown. Starts Too Soon Eddy Rominger, Molitor's mate from Switzerland who was expected to finish high, started too soon and had to go back to the starting line and begin again. The mistake cost him something like 30 or 40 seconds and put him completely out of the picture. He made a sensational run but the faulty start ended his hotles for the honors. Engen and Valaer both performed well but couldn't quite match the brilliance of Molitor. Don Goodman of Sun Valley led the American amateurs and became a strong candidate for the U. S. Olympic team by finishing fourth with a time of 2 :46.8. Phillip Puchner of New Hampshire was fifth with 2:49.8, and John Litchfield of Aspen next with 2 :50.4. Steve Knowlton, defending champion from Aspen, had his troubles and ended up in 23rd place. Jack Reddish led the Utah skimen with a time of 2:51.1 to get ninth posl· tlon. Pat Kearns of Salt Lake was 14th, and Dick Movitz, defending slalom champion, was 17th. Barney ;McLean, 1946 combined champ, was 11th in the downhill field. Susan Follows Susan Neidlinger of New Hampshire followed the Wurtele sisters and Miss Kann In the women's division, taking fourth with a time of 2:33.7. Gretchen Frazer of Sun Valley was sixth. Suzanne Harris Jed the Utah field in ninth place. Rebecca Frazer of Sun Valley was 12th, and Ann Winn of Salt Lake, 13th. Audrey Roth of the home club, Snow Basin Ski club, finished 19th. The snow was perfect for the meet but the course was a bit slower than expected. Weight and wax played a big part in the race, according to the sktmen. Rhoda Wurte1e, commenting , on 8. xToni Matt, New Hampshire, 2:51.0. 1 9 Jack Re~d.Ish, Alta Ski club, 2 :51.1. 0. Gene Gillis, Sun Valley, 2:53.2. 2 : J}'4,Barney McLean, Denver, Colo., 2 :J:\\ xNorman Richardson, Camp Carson, 13. John Blatt, Stanford, 2 :54.0. 14. Pat . Kearns, Salt Lake, 2:54.4. 15. xKrtstofe.r Berg, Norway, 2:55.4. i~: lS~c'k" ~~~m: !W:.. ~~Jleliub~,~~565. s. 18. George Macomber Alta 2 '55 8 19. xMartin Fopp, Albuquerque · 2:56.2. ~gpe~o~la~~ick, Seattle, 2:56.4. Women's Division 1. Rhoda 2:22.8. 2. Rhona 2:28.4. 3, Paula. 2:32.0. Wurtele~ Montreal, Canada, Wurtele, Montreal, Canada, Kann, New Hampshire, 2 :3l 7.susan Neidlinger, New Hampshtn, 5. Olivia Anson!, Switzerland, 2:39.6. 6. Gretchen Frazer, Sun Valley, 2:42.8. 7. Ann Volkman, Portland, Ore., 2:42.9, ~: ~~~~~ne fl:~~~· s~~,J'akha~ii!iFre, 2:45.8. 10.- Rosma.rie B I e u e r, Switzerla.nd, 2:45.8. 11. Antoinette M e y e r, Switzerland, 2:45.8. 12. Rebecca Frazer, Sun Valley, 2:45.9. 13. Ann Winn, Salt Lake City, 2:46.7. 14. Kaki Corbett, Norden, Cal., 2:49.3. ,U: ~T~~YLitft~~:~~; AW~~ee~r~~;· 2J~~: 2 :50.6. • I~: !~~~:i F~~d.Aitp1j~ger~:ak,2:5~,~; 2:52.6. 19. Audrey Roth, Ogden, 2:52.6. 20. Brynhild Grasmoen, Merced, Cal., 2:54.4, ------------------- \ |
