Friday, March 12, 1999 -- Canaan Valley
Wendy's Cup SERA Pro Race

[Coverage/Recap w/Pics] [Pic Set 1] [Pic Set 2] [Results]

A great day for racing as another competitor launches onto the course

The SERA U.S. Ski Series 1999 Tour made its second stop in West Virginia on Friday, March 12. After racing at Snowshoe in the Cup Run Challenge on January 31 and February 1, the tour made it back to the Mountain State to race at Timberline's Wendy' Cup. Some of the state's best winter conditions greeted the field of international racers as they took to Timberline's White Lightning trail and the 34 gates that marked the slalom course. The course was in great shape thanks to plenty of new snow from earlier in the week.

Carving down White Lightning through an abundance of snow

The first racer to challenge the gates was Sverre Melbye, of Norway, who wasted no time in setting a high standard for those to follow. His first run time of 29.22 was a full second better than the second fastest time of 30.36 recorded by France's Hudry Laurent. The real battle was for third as New York's Chris Farmer (31.79) held just a .05 second lead over Michigan's David McVicker (31.84).

The second run was a little more difficult as the inevitable ruts began to form on the course. Laurent was able to grab the fastest time for this run with a 31.08. However, Melbye stayed close with a 31.51 and that was good enough to keep his overall lead. In the fight for third, Farmer's 33.13 was over half a second off of McVicker's 32.55 and that allowed McVicker to secure the 3rd overall finish.

With the finish line in sight, it is just a few more gates to go

Also doing an impressive job of racing were Jenny Seed and Venessa Seed. With a lack of female competition, they had no trouble keeping up with the men to finish in 6th and 7th overall, respectively.

Finally, let's not forget about the amateur competition. While Stephen Shepard may have been disqualified in his second run, he deserves credit for being the only participant to tackle the course on snowboard. Taking the Junior title was Spencer Reed with an excellent combined time of 72.29. In the Women's competition, it was Andrea Dearborn taking the honors with a combined time of 78.34, while the Men's competition had James Huber using a strong first run to take the victory in 85.20.