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Whistler athletes make strong showing in B.C. Winter Games

Skiers, street sprinters, hockey players on the podium
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West Van's Willy Konantz grabs gold at B.C. Winter Games in Trail.

The B.C. Winter Games took place last weekend in Trail and Rossland, with more than 2,000 athletes representing their provincial zones in close to 20 sports.

Whistler’s contribution to the Zone 5 team included skiers, a pair of hockey players, and a street sprint team. The street sprint is an event designed to draw interest and scout talent for the sliding sports, bobsleigh, luge and skeleton.

In the alpine skiing events, the Whistler Mountain Ski Club K1 skiers claimed eight out of 12 podium spots, led by double gold winner Willy Konantz of West Vancouver.

On the first day, Konantz earned his first gold by winning the giant slalom. He was just over one second ahead of teammates Ford Swette (North Vancouver) and Spencer Morrison (West Vancouver). Matthew Seal was ninth, Ben Ho 12 th and Max Horner 14 th to wrap up the top-15.

In the women’s race, Jocelyn Ramsden took the silver, while teammates Mackenzie Patterson, Taryn Mark and Olivia Perry were fourth, ninth and 14 th respectively.

In the slalom the following day Konantz won gold once again, also by a gap of one second. Morris Spencer was third, Ford Swette fifth, Ben Ho sixth and Matthew Segal ninth.

Kailee Darlington won silver in the women’s slalom, while teammate Jocelyn Ramsden picked up the gold. Lauren Cameron also cracked the top-15, finishing in eighth place.

On the final day there was also a team skills event for the athletes, with Zone 5 claiming the gold.

For the K1 skiers the B.C. Winter Games were good training for the upcoming Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup, where the WMSC hosts juvenile racers from around the world.

In the disabled alpine skiing event, Whistler’s Shona Burton won two medals, in slalom and giant slalom.

In hockey, Whistler’s Nadine Crowe joined the women’s Zone 5 team, which finished fifth out of eight teams.

Garrett Milan played for the men’s team, which lost in the finals to the Vancouver Island-Central Coast team.

In the street sprints, the two-person team of Jenna Romanin and Lauren Mooney took the bronze medal in the women’s pairs contest. Romanin and Conor Halliwell were also fifth in the mixed pairs category.

Lisi Schranz of Mount Currie won a gold medal in the individual start juvenile girls cross-country race, crossing the finish line after 5 km more than 20 seconds ahead of her next competitor – not a bad way to celebrate her 15 th birthday.

Ruby Walser and Chelsea Norman from Pemberton also raced in cross-country events. Walser was 11 th in the individual start midget girls, and 15 th in the heat sprint midget girls, and 10 th in the 4X2 km relay. Norman was 15 th in individual start midget girls and 24 th in the heat sprint.

Complete results are available at http://greatertrail2006.com/index.html