Congratulations to

the 2006 U.S. Junior Barefoot Team

Team Members

 

Billy Benoist

Elaine Heller

Shannon Heller

Chirs Morrison

Alternate:  Brody Benoist

 

 

          The 2006 Elite, Jr., and Sr. Barefoot World Championships were held at Lake Silverado in Adna, Washington from September 9-17.  The Barefoot Jr. World’s are held every two years and are for skiers under 17 years of age.  The countries competing were Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, the Republic of South Africa, and the United States of America.  The Republic of South Africa won their first team title with the U.S.A. finishing second and Australia finishing third.

The US junior team was composed of Billy Benoist, Elaine Heller, Shannon Heller, and Chirs Morrison.  Brody Benoist was selected as the team alternate.  The U.S. team skied very well and earned the team silver medal with a score of 5,197.34 points.  Less than 55 points separated them from the gold medal South African team who finished with a score of 5,250.50 points.  The Australian team received the bronze medal with a score of 5,061.96.  This was the U.S. junior team’s second consecutive silver medal finish.

Heinrich Sam led the gold medal Republic of South Africa team in scoring with 1,000 points each in slalom, tricks, and jump.  Sara Lebogang added 705 points in tricks and 619 points in jump.  Zane De Villiers rounded out the RSA scoring with 927 points in slalom.

Elaine Heller led the silver medal U.S. team in scoring with 1,000 points in slalom, 877 points in tricks, and 873 points in jump.  Billy Benoist contributed 938 in slalom and 596 points in tricks.  Chris Morrison rounded out the team scoring with 913 points in jump.

The bronze medal Australian team was led by Ashleigh Stebbeings who scored 929 points in slalom, 1,000 in tricks, and 1,000 points in jump.  Laura Dickers contributed 729 points in slalom, 823 points in tricks, and 582 points in jump.

In the boys individual scoring, U.S. skier Billy Benoist won the trick event with a final round score of 8060 points.  Heinrich Sam finished second with 7,430 points, and Zane De Villiers finished third with 3450 points.  In slalom, Heinrich Sam received the gold medal with a score of 17.7.  Zane De Villiers received the silver medal with a score of 16.8, and Billy Benoist received the bronze medal with a score of 16.3.  In jump, it was Henrich Sam taking the gold with a jump of 21.8 m.  Chris Morrison received the silver with a jump of 18.8 m, and Ryan Groen received the bronze with a jump of 13.4 m.

In the girls individual scoring Ashleigh Stebbeings won tricks with a score of 2,190 points in the final round.  Emily Goldie finished second with a score of 2160, and Laura Dickers finished third with a score of 2110 points.  In slalom Elaine Heller received the gold medal with a score of 14.0.  Emily Goldie received the silver medal with a score of 11.1, and Laura Dickers received the bronze with a score of 9.5.  In jump, Ashleigh Stebbeings topped the field with a jump of 12.9 m.  The Heller sisters finished in second and third place with Elaine jumping 11.5 m and Shannon jumping 10.9 m.