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Jepsen honoured again

Sports briefs: Rheeder tops Red Bull Rampage; Grenier takes 11th
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ATHLETE OF THE YEAR Mollie Jepsen is set to be honoured by the Canadian Paralympic Committee later this month. Photo by Roger Witney/Alpine Canada

Mollie Jepsen's incredible 2018 continues to chug forth.

The 18-year-old Whistler Mountain Ski Club alumnus medalled in four of her five events at the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea in February, winning a gold in the super combined to go along with a silver and two bronzes.

In July, Jepsen was invited to speak at Parliament Hill as part of Ottawa's Canada Day celebrations, and on Oct. 30, the Canadian Paralympic Committee indicated that she would be recognized as the top female athlete at the Canadian Paralympic Sport Awards in Calgary on Nov. 15.

"It is a huge honour to be recognized with this award from the Canadian Paralympic Committee. I was thrilled to represent Canada at the Games and compete alongside so many amazing athletes. I will never forget listening to the Canadian anthem on the podium with a gold medal around my neck," Jepsen said in a release.

Rheeder tops Red Bull Rampage

Canadian Brett Rheeder found himself edged out at Red Bull Joyride in Whistler this past August, but he scored some Red Bull redemption at Rampage on Oct. 26.

Rheeder's score of 89.66 topped Spanish rider Andreu Lacondeguy's 87.33 and American Ethan Nell's 86.33. Fourth-place finisher Tom Van Steenbergen's flat drop backflip was awarded best trick, while 10th-place finisher Brendan Fairclough earned the Kelly McGarry Spirit Award. Lastly, the People's Choice Award went to Spain's Adolf Silva, who took 11th.

Whistler's representatives, Remy Metailler and Brandon Semenuk, took 14th and 16th, respectively, in the 19-rider pack.

Grenier 11th in Soelden

Canada's Valerie Grenier kicked off the FIS World Cup season by just missing out on the top 10 in the giant slalom in Soelden, Austria on Oct. 27.

Grenier's two-run time of two minutes, 3.80 seconds (2:03.80) was 0.18 seconds out of the top 10. France's Tessa Worley took the win at 2:00.51, 0.35 seconds up on Italy's Federica Brignone and 0.95 seconds ahead of American Mikaela Shiffrin.

Fellow Canadian Marie-Michele Gagnon did not qualify for a second run while Candace Crawford did not finish her first run.

The men's event on Oct. 28 was cancelled after some parts of the course received 50 centimetres of snow overnight to create unsafe conditions. The race was rescheduled to Dec. 20 at Saalbach-Hinterglimm, Austria.

Busy time at Whistler Racquet Club

After a record-setting 2017, with 27 total tournaments, Whistler Racquet Club has enjoyed a bustling 2018 as well.

The club hosted the Tennis BC U14 Fall Series 3Star knockout event from Oct. 5 to 8, with Royal Glenora's Kaetan Mehta winning the boys' final over Manveer Boparai and Alice Tolsky from the People's Court edging Daphne Ioannou in the girls' event.

The next weekend, Asher Litman of Hollyburn Country Club captured the under-nine tournament ahead of North Vancouver Tennis Centre's Lauren Van Den Berg.

Tournament action will continue this weekend with Future Stars U9 and U10 events.

More information is available at tennisbc.org/tournaments or by calling the Whistler Tennis Academy at 604-932-1991.