Off to the Junior Nationals for Molly Leavens!

I have been racing for the past two weekends. Two weekends ago, I was in McCall, Idaho for the J3 Super G qualifier. It was also a qualifier for J1 and J2 Western Regions so older girls were competing as well.

The week before the race, I fell during slalom training and hurt my thumb. I got a brace for it, but I was not able to tuck when I had it on so I had to ski with only one pole. For races, it is required to start with two poles but you can finish with only one. So I ended up standing in the start with two poles but when I pushed off, I simply dropped my left one then skied the rest of the course with only my right.

We had spent so much time on jump training that I was sad to see the already small first jump cut down and no second jump. It had been snowing and was snowing for most of the weekend at McCall so the surface was very soft. In my training run, I got caught in the soft stuff and went tumbling through the next gate. Luckily, I walked out injury free. On my first race, I was having a really good run but right before the finish I slid out and had to loop back up the hill to make the gate. Even with the mistake, I managed a third place for J3s.

On my second race, I placed third again for J3s and fourth overall. On the third and final race, I wore a smaller (but less protective) brace for my thumb so I could hold two poles for the entire course. In this race, I was only three-tenths out of the lead for both J3s and overall. Last weekend we had our last J3 qualifier at Snowbird. It was two days of slalom. It dumped the few days before the race but Snowbird pushed off almost all the new snow and found a solid base underneath. On Saturday, I was bib number 1! I have been in the seed for all my races as a J3 but I have never run first, so I was very excited. I had a very strong first run that put me three and a half seconds in the lead. On my second run, I used this lead to my advantage and skied conservatively. I slid out on the second pitch but was still able to win the run by over a second. Both runs put together, I was almost five seconds in front of second place!

My teammate (who also skis on Head) won as well, so it was awesome that the Head rep was there to witness the double win. On Sunday, my first run would be best characterized by incredible recoveries. It was not very clean and I was lucky I crossed the finish line. It put me three tenths behind the lead. On my second run, I slid out again (this time on the first pitch). I was so frustrated with this mess-up that for the rest of the way down, I subconsciously tried to cut off the line so I went straight at the gate then jammed after. When looking at the video from the bottom section, I could barely recognize myself. Since the racer that was sitting in third after first run fell, I still managed a second. Yesterday was my first day back on snow after the race and misfortune struck. I was running to the gym next to my friend when he suddenly cut to the side to avoid someone. I tried to avoid him but instead twisted my ankle and ended up taking us both down. I have been icing it but it is still not weight bearing.

This is my second year in a row I have hurt myself a week before JOs so I hope I can heal up quickly!

 .)) Molly Leavens