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Sports Briefs: Lepine, Murray and Gibson finish strong

The NorAm Cup for ski cross wrapped up with a pair of races at Mt. Hood Meadows this past weekend, with three Whistler athletes finishing their seasons strong.
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The NorAm Cup for ski cross wrapped up with a pair of races at Mt. Hood Meadows this past weekend, with three Whistler athletes finishing their seasons strong.

Sarah Lepine added two more podiums to her tally for the season, placing third on the first day and moving up to first on day two. Adam Gibson earned his first podium of the season with a third place finish on the second day, while Tyler Murray was sixth in both races.

Lepine finished the season ranked third overall, while Murray was third and Gibson ninth.

"I worked hard this year because I really wanted to win the overall NorAm title," said Lepine. "But I can live with second. I was following India Sherret (Kimberley) and if I can't win the title there is no-one else I would rather win it.

" This is my third year on the NorAm overall podium and every year the competition has gotten stiffer as more girls come into the sport and the girls from last year continue to improve."

All three athletes have qualified for the Freestyle World Juniors in Italy on March 30 and 31. They will join national team member Marielle Thompson at the event, which is for racers aged 21 and under.

U16 skiers on top at provincials

The Whistler Mountain Ski Club came home from Red Mountain with a number of provincial titles after three days of racing slalom and giant slalom.

In the opening men's slalom, Riley Seger won the race by roughly 4.5 seconds, followed by teammate Max Peiffer. Max Kirshenblatt was fourth, Cooper Yates sixth, Griffin Renzoni eighth, Jeffrey Cadman 10th, Jonathan Hutchison 12th, Carson Llewellyn 13th, Alex Gershon 14th and Charlie Tuer rounding out the top 15.

In the second slalom the following day, Cameron Alexander jumped to the top of the podium, followed by Max Kirshenblatt in second. Alex Gershon was fourth, James Crawford fifth, Griffin Renzoni sixth, Jeffrey Cadman seventh, Cooper Yates eighth, Carson Llewellyn 13th and Riley Seger 14th.

In the opening men's GS race, James Crawford took his turn on top of the podium, while Cooper Yates was third, Max Peiffer fourth, Jonathan Hutchison eighth, Alex Gershon ninth, Carson Llewellyn 11th, Jeffrey Cadman 13th and Graham Brown 15th.

In the second race, Riley Seger was back on top, followed by Jack Crawford. Cameron Alexander was fourth, Cooper Yates fifth, Alex Gershon eighth, Crason Llewellyn ninth and Jeffrey Cadman 11th.

In the opening women's GS, Sarah Kapur was seventh, Claire Baragar eight, Mikayla Martin ninth and Gabby Smith 13th.

In the next GS race, Mikayla Martin put two good runs together to top the podium, while Steffi Fleckenstein was second. Esme McTavish was 10th, Claire Baragar 11th and Gabby Smith 13th.

In the first women's slalom Steffi Fleckentsein was fourth, Mikayla Martin fifth, Esme Mctavish eighth, Gabby Smith ninth, Claire Baragar 11th and Cassandrah Mah 14th.

In the final slalom, Steffi Fleckenstein was second, Mikayla Martin was fourth, Sarah Kapur was fifth and Cheyenne Ling ninth.

Top skiers in the provincials win the right to represent B.C. at the upcoming U16 nationals.

Park Rider Sessions wrap with a slopestyle

A solid core of skiers and riders turned out to the final Whistler Blackcomb Park Rider Session presented by Milk 2 Go, a slopestyle competition in the Nintendo Terrain Park on Whistler.

Samantha Deally placed first in the Snowboard Female 13 and Under contest, followed by Jennifer Lafreniere and Ire Smith.

In Snowboard Male 9 and Under, Finn Finestone was first by a long margin, followed by Campbell Melville Ives and Truth Smith.

In Snowboard Male 10 to 13, Quinn Dubois posted the second best run of the day for all skiers or snowboarders with a high score of 328 point. Jadyn Chomlack was second and Harrison Metcalf third.

In Ski Male 13 and Under, Wyatt Metcalf was first, Finley Melville Ives second and Dane Kirkegaard third.

JC Heckman placed first ahead of Sid Callaghan in Ski Male 14 to 16.

Treena Hermansen competed alone in Snowboard Female 17-plus.

In Snowboard Male 17-plus, the biggest category, Samuel Poirier-Colombi posted the day's high score, a 336. Samm Neuman was second with a 310, followed by Nathaniel Belch with a 298.

In Ski Male 17-plus, the win went to Thomas Fleury, followed by Dean Bercovitch and Bauston Wilde.

Kokanee Valley Race Series wraps up

The Kokanee Valley Race Series wrapped up its eight-race season on Thursday, Mar. 21 with the now traditional dual GS and team event. The race was held on Gandy Dancer on a shorter course, just 270 metres of vertical and 28 gates, with cold, hard snow.

After the event the overall winners for each category were presented with awards based on the points they accumulated over the season. Only the best seven results were counted towards the overall, although some racers won their categories after taking part in four or five events.

March 21 Dual GS Results

Women 70-Plus

1. Grace Oaks — 1:38.14

Overall: Grace Oaks

Women 60 to 69

1. Joy Fera — 1:34.03

Overall: Joy Fera

Women 50 to 59

1. Janine Linder-Joris — 1:23.95

2. Sanae Tanaka — 1:24.50

Overall: Janine Linder-Joris

Women 40 to 49

1. Akiko Takemoto — 1:24.38

Overall: Akiko Takemoto

Women 30 to 39

1. Hisae Fukui — 1:38.10

2. Kristi Hirsh — 1:39.20

3. Sabina Meister — 1:54.78

Overall: Kristi Hirsh

Women 19 to 29

1. Heidi Macdonald Nixon — 1:41.63

2. Marisa Davis — 4:51.80

Overall: Hannah McIntyre

Men 80-Plus

1. Gar Robinson — 2:51.41

Overall: Gar Robinson

Men 70 to 79

1. David Trussler — 1:33.60

2. Yurek Bialikiewicz — 1:34.35

3. Bob Gilmour — 1:34.71

Overall: David Trussler

Men 60 to 69

1. Butch White — 1:26.55

2. Brian Cameron — 1:27.99

3. Jules Lajoie — 1:32.12

Overall: Butch White

Men 50 to 59

1. John Muzzillo — 1:19.99

2. Randy Jang — 1:32.10

3. Dave Johnston — 1:38.11

Overall: John Muzzillo

Men 40 to 49

1. Michael Noc — 1:18.96

2. Geoff Gerhart — 1:22.13

3. Tony Kloepfer — 1:28.84

Overall: Robert Mitchell

Men 30 to 39

1. Daniel Moore — 1:22.55

2. Darcy Trevelyan — 1:24.28

Overall: Daniel Moore

Men 19 to 29

1. Takamine Kato — 1:20.08

2. David Eastwood — 1:22.36

3. Hugo Morgan — 1:33.69

Overall: Takamine Kato

Men Telemark

1. Gavin Christie — 1:47.39

Overall: Gavin Christie

Women Snowboard

1. Dawn Englehart — 2:46.13

Midget team second at provincials

Whistler's Midget Rep team placed second in the provincial Tier 3 championships in Victoria this past weekend, losing 5-2 to a team from Port Alberni. Whistler went down 3-1 in the first period, with Grant Iles scoring Whistler's only goal with assists from Thomas Cankovic and Tyler Welsh. Whistler made it 3-2 after scoring early in the second period, this time with Thomas Cankovic burying a pass from Grant Iles.

Other players to rack up points in the six-day tournament include Wyatt Den Duyf, Ben Flynn, Taylor Derynck, Ryan Grills, Fenner Rockliffe, Mac Hart, Mackenzie Graves, Edward Lindsey, Keegan Blunden and David Lepine. Cankovic, Welsh and Iles were the team's top scorers.

Ski jumping returns to Whistler

It's been a while, but this Friday, March 29 and Saturday March 30 mark the return of ski jumping to Whistler after a long absence. The normal hill competition — and Nordic combined jumps — takes place on Friday at 10:30 a.m., followed by the Nordic combined cross-country races at 2:30 p.m.

The long hill competition is on Saturday, starting with a trial round at 9:30 a.m., followed by the two-jump final at 10:30 a.m. Both men and women are competing.

Sunday is the contingency day, but if the forecast is accurate then it won't be needed. For more info, visit www.seatoskynordicfestival.com.