Donley's time on mountain pays off with giant slalom sweep

There's probably a reason Finnigan Donley beat skiers older than him Saturday to win both giant slalom races at the Alyeska Cup race series in Girdwood.

As of Thursday, Donley had logged more than 1.6 million vertical feet at Alyeska Resort this winter, the fifth highest among all season-pass holders.

It seems his time on the mountain has paid off. Donley won all four U-12 boys' races Friday and Saturday, and on Saturday he took overall wins in both giant slaloms by posting significantly faster times than the U-14 skiers.

State giant slalom championships were up for grabs in the day's first GSs. Those crowns went to Donley (U-12 boys), Connor Gries (U-14 boys), Ava Liles (U-14 girls) and Ava Schweiger (U-12 girls).

Schweiger, like Donley, won both of the U-12 girls' races.

After a series of second-place finishes at the Alyeska Cup, Chloe Austerman soared to the top in the second U-14 girls' race. Noah Rygh took the win in the second U-14 boys' racing by edging Gries by .02 of a second.

The Alyeska Cup, sponsored by Anchorage Fracture & Orthopedic Clinic, concludes Sunday with slalom races.

Giant slalom No. 1

GIRLS

U12 — 1) Schweiger, Ava, Alyeska Ski Club (ASC),1:31.16; 2) Kragt, Abigail, ASC, 1:33.12; 3) Gries, Alyssa, ASC, 1:33.93; 4) Austerman, Ava, ASC, 1:41.27; 5) Pederson, Isabella, Hillberg Youth Ski Team (HYST),1:42.05

U14 — 1) Liles, Ava, ASC, 1:26.69; 2) Austerman, Chloe, ASC, 1:27.65; 3) Kragt, Hannah, ASC, 1:29.24; Neuberger, Sophie, ASC,1:29.85; 5) Goldstein, Ella, Juneau Ski Club (JSC), 1:32.47

Overall — 1) Liles, 2) Austerman, 3) H. Kragt, Neuberger, 5) Schweiger.

BOYS

U12 — 1) Donley, Finnigan, ASC, 1:24.28; 2) Ferucci, Daniel, ASC, 1:29.24; 3) Elsberg, Aven, ASC, 1:32.26; 4) Carl, Maxwell, HYST, 1:32.74; 5) Neuberger, Ben, ASC, 1:34.33

U14 — 1) Gries, Connor, ASC, 1:25.50; 2) Rand, Evan, ASC,1:27.3;, 3) Stahla, Joseph, ASC, 1:28.50; 4) Harris, John, ASC, 1:28.52; 5) Carl, Alex, HYST, 1:29.89

Overall — 1) Donley, 2) Gries, 3) Rand, 4) Stahla, 5) Harris.

Giant slalom No. 2

GIRLS

U12 — 1) Schweiger, Ava, Alyeska Ski Club (ASC),1:41.43; 2) Kragt, Abigail, ASC, 1:44.23; 3) Gries, Alyssa, ASC, 1:45.09; 4) Lukes, Lucy, ASC, 1:50.74; 5) Pederson, Isabella, Hillberg Youth Ski Team (HYST), 1:55.27

U14 — 1) Austerman, Chloe, ASC,1:37.77; 2) Kragt, Hannah, ASC, 1:38.08; 3) Lantz, Georgia, ASC, 1:41.92; 4) Goldstein, Ella, Juneau Ski Club (JSC), 1:43.59; 5) Wilson, Sydney, ASC, 1:44.53

Overall — 1) Austerman, 2) H. Kragt, 3) Schweiger, 4) Lantz, 5) Goldstein.

BOYS

U12 — 1) Donley, Finnigan, Alyeska Ski Club (ASC), 1:33.25; 2) Elsberg, Aven, ASC, 1:42.96; 3) Carl, Maxwell, HYST, 1:43.40; 4) von Wichman, George, ASC, 1:48.76; 5) Deschamps, Ryder, ASC, 1:49.56

U14 — 1) Rygh, Noah, ASC, 1:35.62; 2) Gries, Connor, ASC, 1:35.64; 3) Stahla, Joseph, ASC,1:36.96; 4) Hartman, Thomas, ASC, 1:37.41; 5) Horrigan, Jimmy, ASC,1:39.24

Overall — 1) Donley, 2) Rygh, 3) Gries, 4) Stahla, 5) Hartman.