Announcement

Alexa Brownlie Golden at Enquist Slalom

Posted by Chris Leighton on Feb 28 2019 at 01:58PM PST
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In total, 44 U16 athletes took part in last weekend’s Teck Enquist Slalom races, which were hosted at Mount Seymour on Saturday, February 23 and Sunday, February 24. The Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) was well represented, with 9 women and 8 men in the field.
Mount Seymour was blessed with fresh snow the night before Race 1. The drive up the mountain was long, with many cars unprepared for the road conditions. Once everyone arrived at the mountain, there were many happy faces, as the snow and temperatures were much more pleasant than the minus 20 degree temperatures they had experienced at Kimberley a couple of weeks earlier.
As always, thanks are due to the organizers, coaches, and volunteers for their hard work putting together a great event. Huge thanks are also due to Teck for sponsoring this exciting race series.
The Mount Seymour event consisted of a total of 2 slalom races for each of the men and the women. The races were dominated by WMSC and Grouse athletes, who locked all of the other clubs out of the podium positions.
Women’s Slalom Race 1 (Saturday):
On Saturday, the women faced a tough course, with 6 of the 22 starters failing to post times. Sadly, 3 of those 6 non-finishers were WMSC athletes. Out of the 16 women who successfully completed both of their runs, 6 were WMSC athletes with 5 of them finishing in the top 10: Isabella Cross won the race, with Amanda Miller in 4th, Dee Dee Lai in 5th with a career best finish, Bella Bay in 7th, and Laura Keogh in 10th. Grouse athletes Katarina Kaludjercic and Mila Plavsic rounded out the podium in 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
Women’s Slalom Race 2 (Sunday):
On Sunday, the course was even more challenging, with 7 of the 22 starters failing to post times. Sadly, all 7 of those non-finishers were WMSC athletes. It was a tough day for the club – out of the 15 women who successfully completed both of their runs, only 2 were WMSC athletes: Dee Dee Lai came in 7th and Laura Keogh came in 9th. Grouse athletes swept the podium, with Mila Plavsic, Katarina Kaludjercic, and Nicola Fretenburg taking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, respectively.
Men’s Slalom Race 1 (Saturday):
On Saturday, the men ran the same tough course that the women had, with the same number of athletes failing to post times: 6 of the 22. Fortunately, only 1 of those 6 non-finishers were WMSC athletes. Out of the 16 men who successfully completed both of their runs, 7 were WMSC athletes with 5 of them finishing in the top 10: John Nicolls came in 2nd, with Sascha Gilbert in 5th, Duncan Ross in 6th, Sam Fuller in 7th, and Kian Gottfried in 10th. Grouse athletes Dylan Stevens and Cameron Seward rounded out the podium in 1st and 3rd, respectively.
Men’s Slalom Race 2 (Sunday):
On Sunday, the men had a little more success than then women, with 5 of the 22 starters failing to post times. Only 2 of those 5 non-finishers were WMSC athletes. Out of the 17 men who successfully completed both of their runs, 6 were WMSC athletes with 5 of them finishing in the top 10. Hayden Harley took a spectacular win, with a winning margin of over a second. The other WMSC men with top 10 finishes were: Duncan Ross in 6th, Sam Fuller in 7th, Logan Sadan in 8th, Ambrose Deck Stang in 10th. Grouse athletes Cameron Seward and Markus Cordy-Simpson rounded out the podium in 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
U14 Results
The U14s had a great weekend of racing, too. The competition in this age category was fierce, with a large field of 46 women and 38 men giving it their all as they navigated the challenging course configurations.
Women’s Slalom Race 1 (Saturday):
WMSC women were dominant on Saturday, with 5 racers placing in the top 10. 1st place was secured by WMSC’s Alexa Brownlie, who was followed closely by teammate Erin Husken in 2nd. Gaia Fameli (Cypress) took 3rd. Other WMSC racers who were in the top 10 with strong finishes were Isabelle Bexton in 5th, Sarah-Elizabeth Whalen in 6th, and Ella Kaufmann in 10th.
Women’s Slalom Race 2 (Sunday):
Sunday’s podium featured the same racers as on Saturday, and in the same sequence: Alexa Brownlie came in 1st, Erin Husken was in 2nd place, and Gaia Fameli finished 3rd. This was a nail-bitingly close race, as teammates Brownlie and Husken crossed the finish line fewer than 0.1 seconds apart! Consistency was the theme amongst the other top 10 finishers from WMSC, who just like Saturday were Isabelle Bexton, Sarah-Elizabeth Whalen, and Ella Kaufmann, this time finishing 6th, 9th, and 10th respectively.
Men’s Slalom Race 1 (Saturday):
Felix Shorter (WMSC) was in a class of his own on Saturday, finishing more than 3 seconds ahead of his 2nd place teammate, Jack Thomas. Rounding out the podium in 3rd was Graeme Eder (Grouse). There were two other WMSC athletes in the top 10: Alec Waldrum came in 6th, and Dylan Boyd finished in 10th.
Men’s Slalom Race 2 (Sunday):
Felix Shorter owned 1st place on Sunday, with an impressively convincing victory that was more than 2.5 seconds ahead of Grouse’s Graeme Eder, who came in 2nd. Milan Novak joined his teammate Shorter on the podium with his 3rd place finish. Three other WMSC competitors placed in the top 10, with Jack Thomas in 4th, Alec Waldrum in 7th, and Joseph Gibbons in 10th.
After two days of hard and exciting slalom racing, the overall winners of Enquist were WMSC’s Alexa Brownlie (U14) and Cameron Seward (U16) of Grouse. Congratulations to all!

Race Report by Laura and Hubert Lai
Photos by Laura Lai