Gardnerville's Nick Cohee, skiing for the Kirkwood Ski Education Foundation, battled members of the United States Ski Team and a number of NCAA All-Americans last week in Park City, Utah, scoring strong finishes in three days of slalom and giant slalom racing on the 2002 Olympic course.
"This Invitational was designed to bring the top juniors in the nation together to battle head-to-head to see who is skiing the best in the country right now, before the Nor-Am Finals and U.S. Championships next month," said Guenther Birgmann, a member of the Austrian national team coaching staff and head coach of Kirkwood's Elite FIS Team. "The ski team also brought in a handful of their top guys along with NCAA All-Americans to make it even more competitive.
"Nick met the challenge head on, finishing sixth, 11th and seventh overall in three days of racing, and defeated most of the U.S. Ski Team athletes at least once.
"He really skied well in this very high pressure environment, with all the U.S. Ski Team coaches looking on."
The Kirkwood Elite FIS team was the top scorers among all non-USST athletes over the three days.
Cohee competed in Jackson, Wyo., over the weekend. He'll head home to prepare for the two biggest events of the season -- the North American Finals from March 11 to 16 in Lake Placid, New York and the U.S. National Championships in Sugarloaf, Maine from March 18 to 24, where he will compete against the likes of former World Cup Champion Bode Miller and Olympic Gold Medalist Ted Ligety.
