Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — You could hear the energy in Lindsay Lockhart's voice as she talked by phone from her Dartmouth College dorm room on Wednesday.

"I'm so excited that I get to race in the downhill at nationals," Lockhart said. "I don't get to do that in college races."

The college freshman qualified to attend skiing's big dance, at least at the national level, by winning the combined at last weekend's Eastern Junior Olympic Championships in Sugarloaf, Maine. It was the last time the 19-year-old could ski in a Junior Olympic event. Since Lockhart skis with the Dartmouth College team, she skied this year in the Eastern Championships.

"It's just a confirmation of her tremendous athletic ability," her former coach, Werner Schnydrig, said. "She is going to school full time and skiing at the same level as these other athletes. That's truly amazing and a testament to her hard work and dedication."

Lockhart won an opening-day Super G event on March 8 and placed third in the slalom event on March 11. In the middle, the former member of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club managed to post another sixth-place finish in the Super G on March 9 and was 11th in the giant slalom race on March 10.

Her combined results made her the best overall skier for the week in what will be her final Junior Olympic Championships. Lockhart also was the top combined junior skier last year when she won the title at the Rocky Mountain-Central Junior Olympic Championships.

"I can't think of any other skier who has ever done that," Schnydrig said. "It might be a first. I don't think it's been duplicated by any other skier."

Schnydrig said the situation is unique in that most skiers don't switch from the Rocky Mountain Region to the Eastern Region from year to year. But Schnydrig said he wasn't surprised to see Lockhart have success in both championships. He feels that she would have been a U.S. Ski Team member if she had not been plagued by injury through most of her junior years.

"It was a pretty good week for me," Lockhart said. "I could have done better in the giant slalom, but it just wasn't my day."

Lockhart said she was confident headed into the races and her finishes really didn't surprise her.

The championships were scheduled to open with a downhill race, but there was just too much snow in Sugarloaf on the opening day, so organizers opted for the super-G.

Lockhart finished the course with a time of 1:38.48. She was followed by Kara Hoisington at 1:38.97 and Melissa Adams with a time of 1:39.75.

The next day, the races continued with another super-G race. This time Stephanie Peters won with a time of 1:31.03. Lockhart was sixth in the race at 1:32.18.

Angela Edlinger won the giant slalom race with a time 1:56.92 on March 10. Lockhart finished off the pace in 11th place.

The events came to a close on March 11 with Kelly Dowding winning the slalom event with a time of 1:33.28. Lea Davison was second at 1:33.90 and Lockhart came in third with a time of 1:34.56.

Lockhart, who has spent most of her time this season on the college race circuit with her Dartmouth team, said the Eastern Junior Olympic Championships were not as competitive as those in the Rocky Mountain.

Still, she wasn't complaining on Wednesday. She plans to leave for the U.S. Alpine Championships on Monday. Lockhart will be happy to know that those events begin March 23 in Big Mountain, Mont., with the downhill.