Mangan and Steffey Win Golden Ski Awards
The North American Snowsports Journalists Association - East Region has picked Patricia Mangan (Derby, NY – Holimont Race Team) and George Steffey (Lyme, NH – Stratton Mountain School) as the 2017 Don A. Metivier Golden Ski Award winners.
Since 1969, NASJA-East (formerly the Eastern Ski Writers Association) has awarded the Don A. Metivier Golden Ski Award to the most promising male and female junior alpine racers in the eastern U.S each season.
Patricia Mangan (right) finished third in the 2017 U.S. Alpine Championships. (U.S. Ski Team-Reese Brown)
Patricia Mangan
Patricia Mangan, a member of the U.S. Ski Team C Team, had her Audi FIS Ski World Cup debut in November at Killington. Among her season highlights, she stood on six NorAm podiums and took the overall super G and alpine combined NorAm titles. Mangan also made the Junior World Championships team and finished top 20 in the giant slalom. Wrapping up the season, she was third in the U.S. Alpine Championships GS. Mangan is also a biomedical engineering student at Dartmouth College.
George Steffey races in the 2016 U.S. Alpine Champs. (U.S. Ski Team)
George Steffey
George Steffey, a member of the U.S. Ski Team D Team, also had a strong season, finishing eighth in slalom and 16th overall in NorAm rankings. He also qualified for the World Junior Championships team, taking 11th place in the slalom after starting 49th. He finished his year taking 11th at the U.S. Alpine Championships giant slalom, making him the 2017 junior national champion in GS. Steffey is also a student at Dartmouth College.
“The Golden Ski Award is the oldest honor given to junior alpine ski racers that exists today,” says Jim Gregory, Chair of the NASJA-East Golden Ski Award Committee. “We are proud this year to honor Patricia Mangan and George Steffey, two extraordinary athletes, and we look forward to watching them pursue their goals and set the bar even higher in the sport we all love so much.”
The Golden Ski Award is named it in memory of long-time snow-sports journalist Don A. Metivier, former editor of Ski Racing Magazine. The awards will be presented at a reception at the New England Ski Museum on Friday, June 9th from 5 to 7 p.m. ET.
Previous Golden Ski Award Winners:
1969: Tyler Palmer, Karen Middleton
1970: Charles Bent, Karen Middleton
1971: Rod Taylor, Judy McNealus
1972: Laurent Gaudin, Jody Palmer
1973: Jerry McNealus, no female winner
1974: No award
1975: Scott Light, Holly Flanders
1976-2007: Award lost
2008: Bump Heldman, Julia Ford
2009: Nolan Kasper, Julia Ford
2010: Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Julia Ford
2011: Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Mikaela Shiffrin
2012: Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Mikaela Shiffrin
2013: Kieffer Christianson, Mikaela Shiffrin
2014: Sam Morse, Alice Merryweather
2015: Drew Duffy, Nina O’Brien
2016: Ben Ritchie, Cecily Decker
George Steffey
George Steffey hails from New England where he learned to ski on the east coast, building his foundation from Stratton Mountain School. Steffey was the valedictorian for his graduating class at SMS, the 2015 SMS Annual Chile Cook Off Champion, and the 2014 SMS varsity soccer team captain.