By Andrew Mitchell
More than a dozen J1 skiers with the Whistler Mountain Ski Club
headed to Rossland last weekend to take part in Mars B.C. Cup slalom and giant
slalom races.
In the opening giant slalom on Friday, Jan. 12 the WMSC’s Julia
Murray, Brynne Benbow and Alecia Willis finished second, third and fourth
respectively, while Jennifer Mah was 14
th
, Deborah Bayliss 20
th
,
and Abigail Cameron 24
th
to round out the top-30, in a field of
close to 90 women. Victoria Whitney was in the top-five after her first run,
but did not finish the second run.
In the second race Whitney placed third, while Murray placed
fourth. Calindy Ramsden tied for sixth, Sarah Marshall was 12
th
and
Jennifer Mah placed 13
th
. Rounding out the top-30, Brittany McGovern
was 20
th
, Bayliss 22
nd
, and Cameron 30
th
.
In the first men’s GS, which included several American racers,
Morgan Pridy was the top WMSC athlete in seventh place. Ben MacLean was 15
th
,
Ian Morrison 20
th
, Nicholas Cooper 21
st
and Michael Dekur
22
nd
.
In the second race James McLean placed third, Ben MacLean was
eighth, Morgan Pridy ninth, Michael Kearney 16
th
, Ian Morrison 19
th
,
Michael Dekur 22
nd
, and Nicholas Cooper 27
th
.
In the first women’s slalom on Saturday, Victoria Whitney won
the gold with a gap of almost 1.7 seconds over two runs, while Brynne Benbow
was less than half a second out of the bronze medal in fourth place. Julia
Murray was fifth, Calindy Ramsden eighth, Deborah Bayliss ninth, Alecia Willis
12
th
, Sarah Marshall 16
th
, Jennifer Mah 17
th
,
Abigail Cameron 21
st
, and Katrina Dekur 22
nd
.
For the men, James McLean was seventh, Morgan Pridy 13
th
,
Nicholas Cooper 17
th
, Michael Kearney 20
th
, and Ian
Morrison 22
nd
out of nearly 100 racers.
In the final race on Sunday, Victoria Whitney picked up a
silver medal, Calindy Ramsden was fifth, Deborah Bayliss eighth, Brynne Benbow
ninth, Sarah Marshall 14
th
, Katrina Dekur 20
th
, Jennifer
Mah 22
nd
, and Rachel Cohen 29
th
.
The next Mars B.C. Cup event is at Apex Jan. 27-29, with a pair
of downhill and a pair of super G races.
The WMSC is also gearing up to host the annual Bob Parsons Memorial races on Jan. 27-28, a regional competition that gives K2 athletes (age 13 to 14) an opportunity to safely train and race on a speed course. As in recent years athletes will race a pair of super G events on the Ptarmigan run of Whistler Mountain.
