Trinity Ellis led two Canadian women into a new race season with a 12th-place finish at the FIL World Cup on Dec. 9 in Lake Placid, N.Y.
The Pembertonian bettered her previous best World Cup finish in Lake Placid by two spots, clocking a combined two-run time of 1:28.649.
“I’m happy with my results today. I definitely had lots of mistakes in my runs, so it is reassuring to see I was still able to have solid results, considering,” said Ellis in a release, who also finished 11th in the Sprint World Cup race. “The first World Cup jitters are now out of the way, and I’m really looking forward to showing my best in Whistler next week.”
Competing in just her second World Cup in Lake Placid and ther first since 2019, Ellis put her offseason training to the test while blasting down the slick 12-corner chute. She sat in 11th after the first run, but a skid midway through her final decent cost her one position in the standings.
Austria’s Madeleine Egle captured the first women’s singles crown of the season with a golden time (1:28.710). Germany’s Julia Taubitz was second (1:28.898), while American Summer Britcher slid to bronze on her home track (1:29.117).
Results roundup
Carolyn Maxwell, the oldest member of the Canadian women’s squad at 22, clocked in at 1:31.183 for 24th. Maxwell was in 15th at the midway point of the race, but lost ground after a challenging second run.
“It was definitely a day of ups and downs. I was trending in the right direction on my first run after a tough training week, so I was happy with that, but unfortunately in the second run, I wasn’t able to build on it and had a couple of mistakes,” said Maxwell in a press release. “Although it’s definitely a disappointing result, especially after showing the potential in my first run, I’m still happy with the lessons I have learned from today.
"This is the direction I needed for myself and I’m excited to build off of it for the rest of the season.”
Canada’s Devin Wardrope and Cole Zajanski kicked their World Cup season off on Friday in men's doubles, placing 16th (1:29.599).
“It was a tough week for us. We struggled trying to find the fast lines down the track, but it was great having two of our best runs on race day and seeing how we place among the field,” admitted Wardrope. “Now we just have to get to work and get everything ready for the home race in Whistler.”
The Whistler Sliding Centre hosts the next World Cup event later this week. The men get things started on Dec. 15 at 1 p.m., followed by doubles at 4 p.m. Action continues on Dec. 16 with women's races at 10:30 a.m. and the team relay at 2 p.m.
Find full results from Lake Placid here.
