Wyoming Valley West Swamps Bishop Hoban

By GEORGE SMITH; Times Leader Outdoors Editor
 Friday, February 10, 1995 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1B 





The 8th annual Keystone State Games Winter Sports Festival got off to a
fast start at Montage Thursday when one downhill skier crashed and was rushed
to Scranton's Community Medical Center's Trauma Unit and another skier posted
the fastest run in what was his inaugural downhill event. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Robert Cushing, age 76, from Greentown in Pike County, crashed 20 feet from
the finish line after negotiating two steep headwalls on Cannonball, an
experts-only trail on the North Face Complex at Montage. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Cushing, the oldest skier registered to compete at the Festival, is a
fixture at both the Summer and Winter Games and planned on entering four
skiing competitions at Montage. He remained in guarded condition Thursday
evening. Officials at Scranton's CMC would not release information on the
extent of his injuries. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Bryan Tobisch, from Walnutport, posted the fastest time in a downhill
competition that took skiers from the very top of Montage Mountain, through
rolling intermediate terrain, and down to the bottom of the steep North Face
trail and base of the mountain. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Tobisch, age 23, completed the course in 74.70. The second fastest time
came from Steve Emery Jr., a 32-year-old Allentown skier, who finished at
75.44. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Emery was clocked at 63 mph during his run, according to Dave Farrand, the
Games' deputy director. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I never raced in the Games before, and never entered a downhill event,"
Tobisch said after the win. "I have been skiing for about 20 years, and do
have experience racing slalom and giant slalom, but I never before entered a
downhill." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The downhill competition has been called the most exciting racing event in
alpine skiing. Racers attempt to record the fastest time during a single run
on a long course with a limited number of gates &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The very best skiers routinely exceed speeds of 60 mph during the event. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I wanted to ski fast and I had to pick a good line," said Tobisch, who
works for Nestor's Warming Hut in Whitehall. "You had to have a good line to
carry your speed over the flat section on the upper part of the mountain on to
the headwalls at the bottom. It really feels good to win." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Tobisch said he would not be entering any more events due to business
commitments. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But the husband and wife team of Lee Roy and Marilyn Jones from Exeter won
medals in their respective 45-and-over age group and plan on competing again,
probably with one of their sons. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Marilyn Jones, 45, won a gold medal in her age group and finished second
overall (95.30) in the female division. Lee Roy Jones, 47, won a bronze medal
in his age group (91.41) in the male division. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I'm very surprised to have done so well since I haven't raced downhill in
several years," Marilyn Jones said. "I'm surprised at my performance because
my husband talked me into competing today. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I'd say, `I'm not going to do this, I'm not going to do this.' Then I see
the gates and get drawn into it. I have to go." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Marilyn Jones admitted to being nervous in the starting gate after several
year's absence from the downhill. But she used more than 20 years of skiing
and racing experience and previous Keystone Games racing savvy to pull off a
fine run. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I learned how to ski at Camelback when I was in my 20s. That's where I met
my husband. Racing," said Jones, who is a funeral director and recently
retired as president of the Luzerne County Funeral Director's Association. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "And when the children were three, they were on skis. Our family has season
passes at Montage now and we ski two or three days each week if work doesn't
get in the way." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Ellen Mellody, a 20-year-old Scranton resident, was fastest in the female
division with a time of 86.93 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Keystone Games Winter Sports Festival gives skiers and figure skaters
the opportunity to experience Olympic-style competition. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Today, an elite giant slalom race is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Montage.
Alpine ski racing and freestyle skiing events will be held through Sunday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) sanctioned and Ice Skating
Institute of America (ISIA) endorsed ice skating competitions are scheduled
Friday through Sunday, Feb. 17-19, at the Ice-A-Rama. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The top three finishers in each division and age group and other local
competitors and their standings in Thursday's downhill at Montage include: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Accident Casts Shadow At Games