BSF racer earns spot at junior world championships

By TIM DUMAS Chronicle Sports Editor

It was quite an accomplishment. How remarkable?

CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO James Hennessy drives to the basket during a recent Montana State University home basketball game. Some struggled to find the proper description. Others had little trouble.

“It’s like a team from Bozeman winning the Little League World Series,” is what Mark Sullivan, president of Bridger Ski Foundation’s alpine division, used for an analogy.

All Roger Bay knows is this: “It’s huge,” he said. “I’m trying to think of what to compare it to.”

As for Eric Haferman, he’ll be making his first trip to Europe next month.

Haferman, 14, who is coached by Bay, won the Topolino Shootout at Mission Ridge ski area in Wenatchee, Wash., on Monday. The victory earned Haferman one of three slots in his age group on the U.S. Ski Team that will travel to Italy next month for the 49th annual Trofeo Topolino races - the world championships for youth skiers.

“I’m really pumped about it,” Haferman, a BSF skier for five years, said Tuesday night after a long drive home with his family. “It’s been a goal of mine for awhile.”

The Topolino Shootout consisted of three slalom races on Sunday, which concluded with Haferman in a three-way tie for first place. On Monday, three giant slalom runs were required, but Haferman slipped out of the top spot with a seventh-place finish on his first attempt.

He won the second heat and needed to win the third in order to keep his chances alive for a ticket to Italy. An excruciating wait ensued. It lasted maybe 15 minutes, but it felt like an hour.

“That’s when I was the most nervous, because I couldn’t do anything about it,” Haferman said.

Finally, the results came in n and so was Haferman.

The Trofeo Topolino, or Mickey Mouse Trophy, has been held in Italy every February since 1960, with more than 60 countries sending athletes. The Topolino is sponsored by Disney and is known as the world's most prestigious event for young ski racers.

The likes of Alberto Tomba, Ingemar Stenmark and Gustavo Thoeni have raced in the Trofeo Topolino and have gone on to win Olympic medals, which just happens to be Haferman’s eventual goal.

As for Italy, his first international competition? Same deal.

“I want to get into the top three,” he said.

Haferman was one of 30 boys invited to the competition in Wenatchee, and just one of two from Montana.

Haferman, who was born in Denver but has called Bozeman home for most of his life, is a freshman at Bozeman High School. He heads to school early in the morning and takes an on-line class in order to be finished by noon, when it is time to hit the slopes, usually at Bridger Bowl.

His past accomplishments include a runner-up finish in the giant slalom and a third place in the Super G, both at the Junior Olympics.

When snow is not on the ground, Haferman lifts weights and runs. He’s played baseball in the past, and this past fall, was a member of Bozeman High’s junior varsity soccer team; he was the backup goalie when the Hawks went to state.

“He’s an amazing athlete,” BSF’s Sullivan said. “He works very hard.”

Haferman says he usually competes every other weekend during the winter, but his schedule this month is busier than normal - his next race is this weekend in Whitefish.

As far as accomplishments go, his win over the weekend means he is well ahead of schedule.

“It gives me a lot of confidence,” Haferman says, “just to know that I’m skiing fast early in the season.”

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