Announcement

U16 Teck Open at Sun Peaks

Posted by Chris Leighton on Jan 18 2019 at 10:34AM PST
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More than 130 athletes took part in last week’s Teck Open races at Sun Peaks. A total of 4 races were run for each of the men and the women from Thursday, January 10 through Sunday, January 13.
Race conditions were “firm” and the weather was a mixture of cloud and sun. This was a big event and many kudos are due to the organizers for their hard work! A big thanks as well to Teck for sponsoring this exciting race series.
The competitors started their weekend off with giant slalom races on Thursday and Friday and finished with slalom races on Saturday and Sunday. The Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) was well represented, with 14 women and 13 men in the field. U16 Coach Richard Jagger had lots of positive feedback about the WMSC racers: “All athletes for our U16 team have good steps both in their technical skiing and in the tactical approach to line in both SL and GS. For our team, we now aim to consolidate the skills that the group has been learning with more volume and quality training.”
Women’s GS Race 1 (Thursday):
On Thursday, WMSC athletes comprised 12 of the 56 women who successfully completed the giant slalom race, with four of them finishing in the top 10: Sara Stiel took 2nd, Fiona McInnes came in 5th, and Emeline Bennett and Jaden Dawson finished in 9th and 10th, respectively. Sara was bracketed by Sun Peaks locals, Noa Hooton in 1st and Brynn Applegath in 3rd.
Outside of the top 10, there were four WMSC women who beat their bib numbers: Meagan Diron finished 22nd from #40, Sloane Goldberg finished 35th from #66, Laura Keogh finished 37th from #47, and Ava Parkhill finished 49th from #57.
Women’s GS Race 2 (Friday):
On Friday, WMSC athletes comprised 13 of the 59 women who successfully completed the giant slalom race, with three of them finishing in the top 10: Fiona McInnes took 2nd, Jaden Dawson just missed the podium in 4th, and Emeline Bennett finished 7th. Brynn Applegath from Sun Peaks, who had finished in 3rd on Thursday, took the top position and Noa Rogers from Apex rounded out the podium.
Outside of the top 10, there were six WMSC women who beat their bib numbers: Sierra Haziza finished 17th from #57, Sara Stiel finished 22nd from #27, Sloane Goldberg finished 32nd from #50, Laura Keogh finished 33rd from #47, Ava Parkhill finished 48th from #58, and Brooklyn Scudamore finished 54th from #66.
Women’s SL Race 1 (Saturday):
On Saturday, the women switched disciplines and raced slalom. WMSC athletes comprised 10 out of the 44 women who successfully completed the slalom race, with three WMSC athletes again finishing in the top 10: Sara Stiel took 3rd, Jaden Dawson was, once again, just off the podium in 4th, and Meagan Doiron finished 9th. Noa Rogers from Apex took the victory, with Brynn Applegath from Sun Peaks, in 2nd.
Outside of the top 10, there were five WMSC women who beat their bib numbers: Laura Keogh finished 26th from #53, Sloane Goldberg finished 28th from #36, Brooklyn Scudamore finished 30th from #66, Sierra Haziza finished 32nd from #64, and Ava Parkhill finished 33rd from #54.
Women’s SL Race 2 (Sunday):
The women finished up their weekend on Sunday with another slalom race. WMSC athletes comprised 10 out of the 47 women who successfully completed the slalom race, with three WMSC athletes finishing in the top 10: Jaden Dawson finished 7th, followed by Fiona McInnes in 8th and Emeline Bennett in 9th. Unfortunately, none of the WMSC women made it onto the podium on this day. The top three finishers were: Charlotte Gibson from Prince George, Noa Rogers from Apex, and Melinda Kobasiuk from Prince George.
Outside of the top 10, there were six WMSC women who beat their bib numbers: Sara Stiel finished 12th from #29, Meagan Dioron finished 17th from #39, Sierra Haziza finished 21st from #64, Sloane Goldberg finished 30th from #36, Brooklyn Scudamore finished 38th from #66, and Ava Parkhill finished 40th from #54.
Of the women’s results, WMSC U16 Coach Richard Jagger said the biggest surprise was “how well Brooklyn Scudamore did in her first races ever in terms of dealing with being nervous and being able to negotiate some tricky set in the slalom.”
Sloane Goldberg, U16 racer and a long-time member of the WMSC, was especially keen about the Sun Peaks event. Goldberg will be moving to Italy at the end of the month, where she is “super excited” to join a race club and participate in ski racing in Europe. Goldberg said, “I’ve never raced outside of Canada, so I’m interested in seeing what racing is like in other countries.” Goldberg’s experience with the WMSC should stand her in very good stead, as will her intensive training over the last year. “I prepared for Sun Peaks a lot in the off season. I spent around 25 days on snow between July and August, plus I followed a fitness program from June until now.”
Men’s GS Race 1 (Thursday):
On Thursday, WMSC athletes comprised 11 of the 51 men who successfully completed the giant slalom race. WMSC men crushed the field today, with six of them finishing in the top 10: John Nicolls came in 2nd, Adam Usher took 4th, Graham Seltzer finished in 6th, Sam Fuller was in 7th, Matthias Shorter came in 9th, and Hayden Harley took 10th place. The victory went to Sun Peaks athlete Benjamin Jacoby. 3rd place spot was clinched by Markus Cordy-Simpson from Grouse.
Outside of the top 10, there were four WMSC men who beat their bib numbers: Duncan Ross finished in 19th from #39, Ambrose Deck Stang came in 34th from #49, Logan Sadan finished in 35th from #53, and Kian Gottfried finished in 36th from #46.
WMSC U16 men’s veteran John Nicholls was “surprised” by his superb 2nd place finish. When asked what did he do that made him feel he could “nail it”, Nicholls said, “Nothing — I was really nervous and had no clue how I would do.” According to Nicholls, “the course was really fast and was a ton of fun.” Although he doesn’t have a special routine to prepare for race day, Nicholls attributes his speed in GS racing to “just full send”. He was no doubt greatly assisted by his mental preparation in “thinking of all the possible outcomes of the race”.
Men’s GS Race 2 (Friday):
On Friday, WMSC athletes comprised 12 of the 53 men who successfully completed the giant slalom race, with five of them finishing in the top 10. Once again, WMSC men were dominant, securing five out of the top 10 places. The race was won by Apex athlete Heming Sola. Taylor Nellis from Grouse came in 2nd. Matthias Shorter rounded out the podium, with Adam Usher just off the podium in 4th. Sam Fuller came in 6th, Graham Seltzer finished in 9th, and Chase Burns took 10th place.
Outside of the top 10, there were five WMSC men who beat their bib numbers: Sascha Gilbert finished in 19th from #37, Duncan Ross finished in 21st from #39, Ambrose Deck Stang came in 23rd from #49, Logan Sadan finished in 28th from #53, and Kian Gottfried came in 42th from #46.
Men’s SL Race 1 (Saturday):
On Saturday, the men switched disciplines and raced slalom. WMSC athletes comprised 8 out of the 47 men who successfully completed the slalom race, with three WMSC athletes finishing in the top 10. Heming Sola from Apex charged into the top spot with a blistering combined time that was more than 3 seconds ahead of Chase Burns (WMSC), who came in 2nd place. Taylor Nellis from Grouse rounded out the podium. Other WMSC men in the top ten were Matthias Shorter, who finished in 5th, and David Wood who finished in 6th.
Outside of the top 10, there were five WMSC men who beat their bib numbers: Adam Usher finished 11th from #12, Duncan Ross came in 12th from #13, Sascha Gilbert finished in 22nd from #37, Ambrose Deck Stang came in 36th from #56, and Logan Sadan finished 31st from #51.
Men’s SL Race 2 (Sunday):
The men finished up their weekend on Sunday with another slalom race. WMSC athletes comprised 7 out of the 30 men who successfully completed the slalom race. Once again, WMSC men had the measure of the field, finishing in four of the top 10 positions. Chase Burns stood at the top of the podium, with David Wood right beside him in 2nd. Grouse athlete Cameron Seward snuck into 3rd place. Matthias Shorter was just off the podium in 4th, and Duncan Ross came in 5th.
Outside of the top 10, there were three WMSC men who beat their bib numbers: Ambrose Deck Stang finished 18th from #56, Logan Sadan came in 19th from #51, and Kian Gottfried placed 27th from #49.

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