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Whistler skiers strong in provincials

The Whistler Mountain Ski Club took more than their fair share of the medals away from the K1 (ages 11 and 12) and K2 (ages 13 and 14) Merrill Lynch Provincial Championships over the past two weeks, putting at least one athlete on the podium in every

The Whistler Mountain Ski Club took more than their fair share of the medals away from the K1 (ages 11 and 12) and K2 (ages 13 and 14) Merrill Lynch Provincial Championships over the past two weeks, putting at least one athlete on the podium in every event but two.

The K1’s competed in giant slalom and slalom events on March 17 and 18 at Mt. Timothy, located outside of 100 Mile House.

The winning started early with a sweep of the podium and four out of the top five spots in the giant slalom. The WMSC’s Conrad Pridy led the way, finishing 0.08 seconds ahead of teammate Taylor Self. Matthew Holler was third and James McLean fifth out of 93 skiers. Rey Stanislas of Whistler cracked the top 10 to finish in ninth position.

That afternoon, Holler finished first, Stanislas fifth, McLean seventh, and Thomas Kasperkiewicz 13 th .

The women’s giant slalom went to Georgia Simmerling of Grouse, followed by Alix-Jaye Ballard of Mt. Washington. Whistler’s Jennifer Mah and Katherine Cape finished close behind in third and fourth. Six other Whistler skiers made the top 15, including Haley McLeish (ninth), Julia Murray (10 th ), Shannon Smith (11 th ), Alison Matasi (12 th ), Jillian McArthur (13 th ), and Alexandria Browne-Munz (15 th ).

In the afternoon race, McLeish finished third behind Ballard, and Wiktoria Glowczynska of Kamploops. Mah was fourth, Cape sixth, Matasi 10th, Murray 12 th , and McArthur 13 th .

In the following morning’s first slalom, Holler finished second, flanked by Nicholas Brush of Wind River and Daniel Metcalf of Vernon. Mclean, Pridy and Stanislas finished sixth, seventh, eighth, and Kasperkiewicz was 11 th .

The WMSC guys didn’t make the podium in the afternoon, with Holler missing a spot by 0.03 seconds. Pridy was fifth, Kasperkiewicz seventh, Stanislas 11 th and Self 12 th .

The girls had a strong second day, with Matasi finishing third behind Jessie Carmichael of Red Mountain and Terra Wilkins of Apex. Murray was eighth, McArthur ninth, Cape 11 th , and Browne-Munz 13 th .

It was a photocopy finish that afternoon, with the same three skiers on the podium in the same spots. Murray was fifth, Cape eighth, Browne-Munz 10th, and McLeish 13 th .

The K2 Provincial Championship races took place at Mt. Washington from March 22 to 24 and featured super-G, giant slalom and slalom events.

The WMSC got off to a slow start on day one with the top three spots in the super-G going to Mt. Washington’s Kyle Stubbs, Sun Peaks’ Adam Davey, and Jeff Hutton of Grouse. Darren Chaddock finished fifth on the day, Jerry McArthur and Michael Messeguer finished eighth and ninth, and Shaun Stroshin was 14 th .

The women’s competition came down to 0.03 seconds, with Whistler’s Kendall Benbow hot on the heels of Grouse Mountain’s Katherine Benjamin. Danielle Robson was fourth, Keely Coxon eighth, and Meredith McLean 11 th .

In the giant slalom on the following day (March 23), Messeguer finished first by a second and a half over two runs to take the gold over Robert Davis of Nelson and Matthew Hoeschle of Big White. Chaddock and Stroshin were fourth and fifth respectively.

Whistler’s Kendall Benbow finished first in the women’s competition, almost four seconds ahead of Jennifer Graham of Mt. Washington and Kristina Serwa of Big White. Tyla Flexman was eighth for the WMSC, and Coxon was 10th.

In the March 24 slalom, Whistler’s Darren Chaddock was the top racer, beating out Julian Simmerling of Grouse and teammate Jerry McArthur. Stroshin was eighth.

Benbow returned to the top spot on the podium that afternoon, taking the slalom by over a second over Jennifer Graham of Mt. Washington. Kerri Van-Doorninck of Cypress was third. Other WMSC finishes include Taryn Ng in fifth, Vanessa Disler in ninth, Coxon in 11 th and Flexman in 12 th .

Both Chaddock and Benbow walked away from the weekend as overall K2 provincial champions.