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Gymnasts face tough competition at Ogopogo

For years, the Whistler Gymnastics Club has wrapped up its competitive season at the Ogopogo Invitational, enjoying the sun and the opportunity to put a year's worth of training to the test.

Recently the level of competition has increased hugely, with the top clubs in B.C. and Alberta attending the meet, as well as clubs from farther east. This year a club even took part from Toronto.

The result was a tougher event than past years.

In Level 3 Novice, Keeley Wentzel, Carly Mann and Jessie Budge were 13th, 14th and 18th respectively. Wentzel tied for fourth on the bars and was seventh on the vault; Mann tied for third on the vault and for fourth on the floor; Jessie Budge place 12th on the floor.

Gabby Flynn had the best result for the club, placing third all around out of 21 competitors in Provincial 2 Argo 2001, tying for first on the floor, placing second on vault, sixth on beam and 10th on bars. Gigi Kranjc was 15th all around, tying for 11th on the bars.

In Provincial 2 Tyro 2000, Caleigh Lamont was 12th all around, with a fifth place tie on the vault and 10th place results on bars and beam. Hannah Peatfield was 16th, with an 11th place result on floor.

In Provincial 2 Tyro 1999, Caitlin MacConnachie was 10th all around.

In Provincial 2 Novice A, Ellie Krasny was 11th all around, placing seventh on vault and eighth on floor.

In Provincial 2 Novice B, none of the Whistle athletes finished all four events with injuries. Jamie Gormley had a seventh place result on the bars, Charlotte Mahoney was ninth on the floor and Christina Saldat was 12th on the floor.

In Provincial 1 Argo, Hailey Jackson was fifth all around with a gold medal on floor, seventh place on bars and ninth on beam. Jennifer Lafreniere was seventh all around, tying for fourth on bault, placing fifth on floor and sixth on bars. Emily Sargent's best results were ninth on vault and 10th on floor, and Lauren Wentzel was 15th on floor.

Whistler Gymnastics is wrapping up its season. The club is hosting an adult meet this Saturday, June 11 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. with local coaches and masters gymnasts from outside the community taking part.

The week of June 13, the club is also hosting year-end displays for different categories including Active Start, recreational and competition programs, and competitive trampoline. Summer camp information is online at www.whistlergymnastics.com.

 

Running clinics take on cancer

The Core and trainer John Blok are hosting a series of running clinics starting Tuesday, June 14 and continuing through the summer, with the proceeds going towards the Sears Great Canadian Run - The Relay to End Kids Caner. The runs take place at 7:30 a.m. and will last an hour. Each run will be different, like runs to mid-station on Whistler, trail intervals, pace line running and barefoot running on grass. Participation is by donation, meeting at The Core at 7:15 a.m. Parking is free in the parking lot until 10 a.m.

 

Whistler soccer team in the running for BMO award

The Whistler F.C. is looking for the support of its community in winning the BMO Soccer Team of the Week contest.

The promotion, run by Bank of Montreal, lets parents and coaches nominate teams between U8 and U13 categories on the basis of team spirit, passion for the game, community involvement and team pride. For 15 weeks, BMO will pick a winner, which will receive team track suits, $500 for team costs and $500 more to donate to a team's charity. The 15 finalists also have an opportunity to win $125,000 in soccer improvements for their community fields and facilities.

Coaches Andrew Ellott and Mike Tomcheck nominated their U12 girls team, which won the North Shore Community Cup in 2010 despite coming to the eight-on-eight tournament with just nine players . The team plays practices indoors in between seasons and makes the most of short spring and fall seasons to train outdoors.

To cast a vote in support of the team, visit http://community.bmo.com/soccer/ and look for the Team of the Week link. Once there, enter "Whistler" into the Team Finder window to support Whistler F.C.

 

WB announces team programs

This week the Whistler Mountain Bike Park announced the introduction of a new program to support riders with pro and World Cup aspirations, called the Whistler Mountain Bike Race Team. The team will be comprised of local riders looking to progress to the next level and dominate in regional and downhill and all-mountain events.

As well, the bike park is launching a new Whistler Mountain Bike Park Ambassador Program, which provides elite athletes that are already competing at the highest levels of the UCI tour with support while they represent the bike park to the world.

More details on these programs will be available in the coming weeks.

 

Sea to Sky athletes head to Oliver Half

Several local athletes made the trip to Oliver this past weekend for the annual Oliver Half Iron event - a 2-km swim, a 93-km cycle and a 21.1-km run.

The top Whistler competitor was Frederic Jardot, who placed 95th overall and 20th in the Men's 40 to 44 race with a time of 5:16:18.

Greg Sandkuhl was 107th overall and first in the Men's 65 to 69 category - by almost 15 minutes - with a time of 5:18:57.

Fero Piliar was 13th overall and 27th out of 74 racers in the Men's 35 to 39 age category in 5:24:38.

Maridee Fitch was 38th in Women's 50 to 54 in 7:30:58.

From Pemberton, Nancy Johnston was eighth out of 61 racers in Women's 45 to 59 in 5:51:48.

From Squamish, Volker Schneider placed 36th overall and sixth out of 90 racers in the Men's 40 to 44 race in 4:56:27. He was the top Sea to Sky racer.

Jen Segger, usually better known for off-road adventure sports, placed 101st overall and sixth out of 47 racers in the Women's 30 to 34 race.

Travis Kubin was 389th overall and 66th in Men's 40 to 44 in 6:11:19.

Karen Ogilvie was 25th in Women's 35 to 39 in 6:15:18.

Tanya Hawkings was 27th in Women's 35 to 37 in 6:19:20.

Sylvie Jorger was 18th in Women's 45 to 49 in 6:19:20.

Patricia Leslie was 43rd in Women's 40 to 44 in 7:51:43.

Complete results are online at www.raceheadquarters.com.

 

Phat Wednesday gets underway

The Phat Wednesday downhill series gets underway on Wednesday, June 15 with a special edition of the race. Expect a mix of intermediate trails that anybody can ride.

To take part in the series - six Phat Wednesdays and three experts-only PhaSt Wednesdays - you need to be a member of the Whistler Off-Road Cycling Association and have a valid pass to ride the park.

WORCA memberships are available online at www.worca.com and there will be registration at the start as well. Riders also chipĀ  $2 into the pot before the start of the race, which will be split among the winners. All participants are eligible to win draw prizes from sponsors, including Kokanee, the GLC, Whistler Mountain Bike Park, Kona, Sram, Race Face, Hayes Disc Brakes, Marzochhi, Maxxis, Darkine, Decline, WTB, Odi and Funn Pedals.

Registration gets underway at the Garbanzo Bike and Bean at 5 p.m. and the racing starts at 6 p.m. The races are capped at 200 riders due to time constraints, so early registration is recommended.

 

Longboarders take Britannia Classic, set sights on Whistler

The annual Britannia Classic longboarding race (formerly the Gold Rush Challenge) took place this past weekend on Copper Drive, with longboard skaters navigating the steep road at speeds over 100 km/h.

Squamish's own Patrick Switzer won the race and $2,000 first prize after George Mackenzie lost control around the final hairpin and crashed. Andrew Chapman and Travis Craig were second and third. Katie Neilson, the top female racer, won $1,000.

The next major stop on the tour is the inaugural Whistler Longboard Festival, which is taking place on June 25-26 on the Whistler Sliding Centre service road - eight corners and a vertical drop of around 330 metres. The course will be closed for training and qualifying on Saturday, but will open up on Sunday so spectators can watch longboarders go head-to-head through the heats until a champion can be decided. For more, visit www.whistlerlongboard.com.

 

STORMY 2011 cancelled

The 2011 edition of the STORMY ultra trail run and relay was cancelled last week due to unspecified "permitting challenges," according to a post by Ryne Melcher on the official website, www.stormytrailrace.ca.

This would have been the 11th year for the run, which features a 50-mile (80-km) solo race and a 50-mile team relay. It was originally called the "Squamish Test of Running Metal-Yeah!" as the first editions of the race followed the

 

PVTA raising funds

The Pemberton Valley Trails Association is hosting its second annual fundraiser on Saturday, June 18 at the Pemberton Community Centre. The fun starts at 8 p.m. with a silent auction, t-shirt sales, updated map sales, a slide show by Johnny Foon, door prizes, beer garden and more. Tickets are $10 in advance at the Whistler and Pemberton Bike Co. and $15 at the door.

Funds go towards building and maintaining trails in the Pemberton area.

 

Crankworx 2012 dates announced

It's never too early to start planning, especially if you're organizing one of the biggest mountain bike and freeride festivals in the world.

This week Whistler Blackcomb confirmed that Crankworx, which has jumped around in past year, would be moving back into the August timeslot in 2012, with 10 days of events from Aug. 10 to 19.

This year's festival takes place July 15 to 24. Registration is still available for most of the events at www.crankworx.com.