DOVER- The Mount Snow Academy athletes were out and about this past weekend, competing at various venues as well as opening up some new opportunities. The Freeski team was at Okemo on Saturday for a USSA “A” event. Forty-plus skiers competed in slopestyle, and were rated on the best of their two runs. Ali Parotti (a junior from Canaan, CT) placed second overall among the women and Connor Clayton (a junior from West Simsbury, CT) came in third overall among the men.

Also in Freeski news, two Mount Snow Academy freestylers made the cut for invitations to the East Coast junior freestyle championships, which will be held in March. Calvin Lyons (a ninth-grader from Marlboro) qualified to compete in both slopestyle and aerials, and Thomas Neal (an eighth-grader from Wallingford, CT) qualified in aerials.

Another local athlete, snowboarder Max Lyons (a junior from Marlboro) was a bit farther from home. He was at Buttermilk in Aspen, CO, competing in an invitational exhibition USASA Rail Jam at Winter X Games 17. Lyons made it to the finals, in which he placed eighth against outstanding athletes from across the country.

The Alpine U14 girls headed to Stratton for a giant slalom on the Sunday. The competition included 44 girls, ages 12 and 13, trying for their top speed on an intermittently icy course. Danie Edwards (Stamford, CT) came in eighth, while teammates Alexandra Welter (Babylon, NY) and Leah Montello (Stamford, CT) came in 12th and 16th respectively.

And, just as a reminder about what some distinguished MSA alums are up to, Kelly Clark won the women’s snowboard superpipe at the Winter X Games in Aspen last weekend. She was recently named to the US Snowboarding Halfpipe Team, which means a shot at yet another Olympics.

Freeskier Devin Logan has been named to the 2013 US Freeskiing Team, which is preparing to represent the United States when freeskiing makes its Olympic debut in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.