Skier heads to state championships

Davidsonville resident Jack Havens, 12, has qualified for the USSA Pennsylvania Alpine Racing Association Western Division in first place. The championship race will be help this Saturday at Ski Roundtop, in Lewisberry, Pa.

By Mitchelle Stephenson
Originally Published in The Capital on 2/26/2009

The town of Davidsonville in southern Anne Arundel County has no mountains. So it is curious that a boy from that town has made it to the top ranks of alpine ski racers on the East Coast.

Jack Havens, a 12-year-old from Davidsonville and a seventh-grader at St. Pius School in Bowie, leads a pretty routine life from spring to fall. He water skis with his family in the summer and plays football with the Davidsonville Gators Athletic Association in the fall.

It is in winter that his life changes. He skis competitively for the Pennsylvania Alpine Racing Association (PARA). His home mountain is Wisp at Deep Creek in Garrett County, which PARA considers part of its Western Division. He skis every weekend hoping to make it to the top levels of his sport.

Jack has fared well this season and has qualified to ski in the state championships this Saturday at Ski Roundtop in Lewisberry, Pa.

If Jack is successful there he will qualify for the Eastern Championships March 22-25 at Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow, Vt.

"Depending on how well you do at that, you can get sponsored - you might get wanted by a ski school to train out west," Jack said, reviewing the possibilities. A win there could even help to qualify him for Junior Olympics, where most future Olympic alpine skiers hone their skill.

Getting there

Each Friday, Jack's mom, Paige, or his dad, Chris, make the three-hour drive to the WISP resort. There, he trains under the tutelage of coach Derek Berger, who skied for Pennsylvania State University at State College.

"Over the course of the last few winters, Jack's hard work during practice and enthusiasm for the sport of skiing have translated into marked improvement in his performance on the snow and in the race course," said Derek.

"His recent success on the regional and national levels comes as no surprise to me - as he is an excellent skier for his age and he is among the top young athletes I have had the pleasure to coach."

Jack practices slalom and giant slalom alpine ski racing, the two race categories open for his age group.

Slalom racing runs are defined by blue and red gates, placed fairly close together, where the racer has to ski in between the poles. The hallmark of this racing style is skiers racing almost in a straight line down the mountain and knocking down the poles with their shins. Racers are not disqualified for hitting the poles, but both skis must pass between.

In giant slalom racing, the gates are placed further apart, so that while the goal is still to get to the bottom of the mountain as quickly as possible, more directional turning is involved.

In each run, skiers make the run down the mountain alone; only knowing their standings after all of the races are completed.

Jack practices on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and on certain weekends he competes in races. There are eight qualifying races for the state championships where each skier is awarded points, one point for a first place finish, two points for a second place finish and so on. Jack has done well, finishing first in all but one of his races.

With that success, Jack and two others from the Deep Creek team will go to the championship races at Ski Roundtop. There they will meet with boys from the other three PARA divisions.

"Sixty kids will race on Saturday and nine will move on to the USSA event in Vermont," Jack's mom, Paige, said. "He will most likely qualify for Vermont, but from there, competition gets really tough," she said.

USSA is the United States Ski Association, the body that oversees both youth and adult competitive alpine skiing.

What Jack likes best about skiing is, "going fast," but he has advice for young people in all sports: "Never quit and keep on trying even if someone beats you.