HUNTER, N.Y. – The 64th annual races of the Carpathian Ski Club, known by its Ukrainian acronym as KLK, were conducted at Hunter Mountain on Saturday, March 17.
Athletes of all ages – from 5-year-olds to seniors over 75 – competed in the family-oriented event held this year on St. Patrick’s Day in top-notch ski conditions thanks to recent abundant snowfall.
Andrew Moroch
KLK Vice-President Eri Palydowycz (left) presents the traveling trophy for the fastest male skier of the 2018 races to Mark Blyznak.
Later that day, at a dinner held in Hunter Mountain’s Copper Tree Restaurant, skiers received the trophies and medals they had earned. (See the race results below.)
Skiers in the age group of men 45-49 (from left): champion Marco Shmerykowsky, Ihor Pawluk and Vasyl Hotsko.
Special awards were announced for the fastest female and male skiers, an honor that includes yearlong possession of traveling trophies with the winners’ names inscribed on them (no repeat winners are allowed). The 2018 winners were Talia Pawluk and Mark Blyznak.
Natalia Wojcickyj (right) and Maria Silver, first and second-place finishers, respectively, in the group of women 55-59, are congratulated by KLK President Andrew Hadzewycz.
The evening’s program was opened by Andrew Hadzewycz, president of the Carpathian Ski Club, who noted the generous financial support offered by three Ukrainian credit unions – Self Reliance New York Federal Credit Union, Ukrainian Selfreliance Federal Credit Union (Philadelphia) and Nova UA Federal Credit Union (Clifton, N.J.).
Pavlo Pencak won two first-place trophies in his age group, boys 14-15: one for skiing and another for snowboarding.
Also addressing the awards dinner participants was Eri Palydowycz, KLK vice-president.
A moment of silence was observed for those who had died in the year since the last ski races: KLK stalwarts Orest Slupchynskyj and Wolodymyr Hnatkiwsky, and top skier Marta Dubyk.
Skiers of the boys 6-7 group: Nazar Tehza (left) and winner Nicholas Temnycky.
Guests of honor at the awards dinner included Ukraine’s former ambassador to the United Nations Yuriy Sergeyev, now a lecturer in the Department of Political Science and a fellow at Yale University, and his wife, Nataliya, as well as Col. Mykhailo Kyrylenko, military adviser to Ukraine’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
Katja Palydowycz, the champion among women age 21-29.
Competitors in the group of girls age 6-7: runner-up Sophia Temnycky (left) and winner Kateryna Pawluk.
