
Will Cashmore on his way to first FIS win. Photo by Tania Coffey
The CMC Eagles Alpine Ski Team is hitting its stride, scoring podium finishes in Steamboat and Jackson in January
Will Cashmore, a sophomore who hails from Auckland, New Zealand, took his first FIS win in the men’s giant slalom at home in Steamboat. Cashmore (Cash), speaking of the win, said, “it was so awesome to race the home hill! Makes a huge difference sleeping in your bed before a race day! I’m still buzzing from the result, and looking forward to taking the skiing over to Utah for the close of the college season!” The races at Steamboat were livestreamed, so Will’s family was able to watch his first-ever FIS race win all the way from New Zealand.
Cheyenne Brown, also a sophomore from Donner Summit, CA, took second place in the Steamboat women’s GS. “Racing on home snow is very surreal to me. Waking up in your own bed, making breakfast, and driving yourself to the hill is such a weird experience to me. It feels like another day of training. I tend to put a little more pressure on myself to perform on the home hill, which obviously doesn’t work, and it showed in my nervous skiing. But once I realized – hey, this is your stomping grounds, relax – I was able to calm down and ski into 5th and 2nd place. I am hungry for more speed and I am excited to take this momentum into my next races,” Brown related following the race.
Sergi Piguillem, a sophomore from Barcelona, Spain, was also on the podium with a third-place GS finish. For Sergi, “racing at home was very fun, especially when the conditions are as good as they were. Although I had some mistakes, I was able to ski pretty solid and end up in 3rd place. It was great seeing my teammates throwing it in there as well.”
All of this follows a stellar performance by Henry Hakoshima, who brought back three wins (two in GS and one in Slalom) from his home town of Jackson, Wyoming earlier this season. “I enjoyed coming back to Snow King where I learned how to ski race. Over the years, I have trained and raced at Snow King. I’ve always admired the mountain, which is why it makes me very happy to race there and come away with three victories,” sophomore Hakoshima said.
The team, under head coach Scott Tanner, is enjoying the rewards of success and looks forward to more top finishes through the remainder of the season.
Follow the team on this site, or on Instagram (Skigles).