Courtesy of KMS
PG athlete Abe Studler (far left) took second place in the NorAm Finals Duals comp, a huge result for him in a super competitive international field.
By Amy Allen
KILLINGTON — Crowds gathered under bluebird skies both Saturday and Sunday March 5-6 at the base of Killington’s mogul venue on Highline to watch Freestyle athletes from all over the world compete in singles and duals events in what was the final stop of the NorAm Tour. Killington Mountain School’s Abe Studler threw down amazing runs on Sunday to take second place in the Men’s Duals in what was an extremely competitive field of athletes. Studler, who hails from Brant Lake, N.Y., turned in his best performance in a NorAm to date, finishing solidly between the US Team’s Troy Tully in first and Team Canada’s Laurent Dumais in third.
“Abe has had an awesome NorAm Tour. It was great to see him finish it off with his first podium,” commented KMS Freestyle Program Director Kris Pepe. “KMS’s Hannah Soar had a great weekend too, taking tenth on Saturday and finishing eighth on Sunday. Hannah is ninth overall in the NorAm Cup standings with Abe in tenth. We look forward to keeping the momentum going headed into Junior Nationals and US Championships.”
Studler, surrounded by enthusiastic family members, friends, teammates, and home-mountain supporters, was clearly pumped about his performance, “I am super excited to have landed my first NorAm podium and even more so to do it at my home mountain. Second place is a big step in my career, and I am glad that it came with the last event of the Grand Prix Tour to set me up well for upcoming championship events,” he said.
Freestyle Events Coordinator Nori Pepe spoke about the NorAm, “This was a great weekend for our team. We are thankful to all the coaches, athletes, parents and volunteers for helping us pull it off. Special thanks to Killington Resort for providing us with the support we needed to hold such a big event.”
Studler and his teammates have positioned themselves to end their season on a strong note out west as they feed off the powerful momentum they built at Killington this weekend. The team will travel to Steamboat Springs, Colo. for U.S. championships after competing in Sun Valley this coming weekend.
