Killington
posted
Jan 17, 2013
Killington Mountain School's (KMS) Maggie Leon, 15, of Simsbury,
Ct., has been on a roll since December, collecting wins including
her first-place finish Jan. 5-6 at Stratton Mountain in the girls
14+ USASA Southern Vermont Series rail jam. The win qualifies her
for the USASA rail jam exhibition, held during the XGames, at
Aspen, Colorado, at the end of this month.
In late December, she won the women's open division at the
K-Town Showdown Series rail jam at Killington. Her brother, Joey
Leon, 13, took second in the groms division.
Maggie Leon also took first place the USASA Southern Vermont
Series rail jam at Stratton with tricks including a front board to
switch on the down rail and a boardslide 270 on the tube.
"Although the weather was less than ideal with 20-degree highs
and wind gusts at up to 30 mph, a slew of riders and skiers turned
out for the first of three K-Town Showdown rail jams of the season
on Saturday, Dec. 22," said KC Gandee, KMS snowboard program
director and head coach. "Leading the charge for the KSC/KMS
Snowboard Team were sibling rivals Maggie and Joey Leon.
Maggie was matched up against some very talented riders like
Lily 'Stitches to Riches' Calabrese, who recently won the Rails 2
Riches event at Killington. Maggie's consistency paid off with
highlights like a frontside board slide on the down rail, 50-50
with a tail grab out over the close-out rail and a huge air over
the entire donkey rail. Maggie's heroics earned her first place and
a new Never Summer snowboard as well as a Bern helmet. Joey
likewise had a great day with highlights including a front
blunt-270-out on the down rail, 360 off the pole jam over the close
out and a 50-50, 360-out on the donkey. Joey ended the day in
second place."
Maggie Leon will continue to pursue her ultimate goal of
qualifying for the XGames.
The Southern Vermont Series is one of the original grassroots
snowboarding contest series. Many Olympians and top-name pros got
it all rolling in the hills of Southern Vermont, riding with
friends and getting together for these contests. Many new
sports-drink- and manufacturer-driven "tours" are popping up, but
SVSS still represents the development of young snowboarders by
providing fair and fun, well-managed events.
Killington Mountain School is a fully approved Vermont
independent school whose mission is to inspire students to pursue
excellence in academics and athletics in a culture that promotes
integrity, leadership, responsibility, and respect. To learn more
about alpine, snowboard, freestyle, freeskiing, and cycling
training and opportunities, visit www.killingtonmountainschool.org
or call 802.422.KMS1.
