Race Place Catalog Cover Stories
2015-16 Race Place Catalog Cover Stories
Minam Cravens
Minam is a Race Place Cover Athlete and received a $1,500 award. He is from Bend, Oregon and skis with Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation. I first noticed Minam at 8 years old chasing his Dad, Rob, down the slopes of Mt. Bachelor. Rob is a very fast skier, but I gave him a warning that his days being in the lead were numbered. Those days are long gone!
He is a 3.7 GPA student at Cascades Academy and is striving to pursue higher education at an Ivy League school such as Dartmouth or Middlebury. Minam is community minded through volunteering with the USFS in stream restoration and tree planting. He and a friend also raised $5,000 last year for Ten Friends, an organization that supports education in Nepalese villages.
A ski goal is to make the US Ski Team and he is on the right path based on his results in Western Region and US National competitions. His USSA points for the 1999 birth year shows these national rankings: #1 DH, #2 SG, #3 SL and #4 GS.
In summary this is a quote from Minam's application:
“My whole life revolves around my sport and my academics. I love skiing and can't truly express my feelings in words. It is more than a love, it is my life and my passion.”
Race Place is honored to have Minam on this catalog cover!
Aedan Chiari
It's a 1st where Race Place has chosen two athletes to share the catalog cover, but with two great applicants we decided to award $1,500 to both Minam and Aedan!
Aedan hails from South Hero Vermont, a tiny island in Lake Champlain. Hero is an appropriate name for Aedan and he even skis on Rossi HERO! His early ski days were free skiing at Smugglers Notch where he learned to just let his skis go. He says, “This early devotion to adventure, speed and the mountains definitely shaped my love for ski racing today”.
He's a sophomore at GMVS with a 3.8 GPA and his higher education goals are Dartmouth or University of Denver. Aedan dreams of making the US Ski Team and his race results are definitely heading him in that direction. His USSA national ranking for 2000 birth year has him 2nd in SL and 7th in GS.
Ski racing takes a real financial commitment for a family and Aedan stated: “A Race Place award presents a great opportunity for me to take some ownership in meeting my goals. As a fifteen year old student it's difficult to find ways to help my parents support my journey financially. I would like to have just as big of a part in supporting myself as my parents do”. It's nice to see young athletes with the maturity level of Aedan in understanding that success has to be earned.
Race Place is honored to have Aedan on this catalog cover!
BACK COVER WINNER: Kaitlyn Kendall Harsch
Kaitlyn's application letter to Race Place started with:
“How did I get to be the 2015 U14 Overall National Champion? It's an unlikely turn of events that got me here, starting with being born in Pueblo, Colorado where I had a better chance to be a bull rider than a ski racer. But being born into a family with a Mom that raced on the US Ski Team and a Dad as a ski instructor, I learned to ski at the age of two.”
We understand from our years in the ski racing world that athletes need a large support system to reach their goals and we are pleased to join Kaitlyn's support system. After choosing her for the back cover and a $750 award we discovered that we had known her Mom, Karen Kendall in the 1980's. My daughter, Cami, raced against Karen in Minnesota/Wisconsin and at the 1988 Junior Nationals at Mt. Bachelor. I recollect taking a run on the Outback with Karen's Father. Five months later our family moved to Bend! Small world!
Race place wishes you good luck with your race career!