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WMSC alumni light up GMC Cup

This week Lake Louise hosted the first Pontiac GMC Cup series of the season, with two giant slalom and two slalom competitions. The Whistler Mountain Ski Club was well-represented, with eight athletes competing on the B.C.

This week Lake Louise hosted the first Pontiac GMC Cup series of the season, with two giant slalom and two slalom competitions.

The Whistler Mountain Ski Club was well-represented, with eight athletes competing on the B.C. Ski Team, plus their own FIS level athletes.

In the opening men's giant slalom, the WMSC's Ford Swette - racing with the B.C. Ski Team - placed first overall with a two-run time of 1:59.31, a full 2.37 seconds faster than Banff's Michael Law.

Brodie Seger, a FIS athlete with the WMSC, was sixth. Spencer Morris, with the B.C. Team, was 10th, Blake Ramsden with the WMSC was 11 th . Other WMSC skiers were Yoriaki Kotake 24th, Davis Wong 36th, Kyle Yates 40th and Benjamin Reeves 49th.

On the women's side, provincial team skier Jocelyn Ramsden, also a WMSC alumnus, finished first in 2:05.36, 0.83 seconds ahead of Vanessa Alboiu of Alberta. Kailee Darlington, also with the B.C. Team, was 15th. From the WMSC's FIS team, Emma King was ninth, Rae Swette 16th, Celeste Pomerantz 46th and Alysia Kwong 50th.

Ford Swette picked up another gold medal in the second GS the following day, while Broderick Thompson - a WMSC alumnus on the B.C. Ski Team - placed sixth.

Spencer Morris was 16th, Blake Ramsden 19th, John McIver 33rd, Charlie Renzoni 43rd, Davis Wong 49th, Austin Llewellyn 51st and Benjamin Reeves 62nd.

"I felt I skied a lot better today," said Swette. "I've been racing so much this season that I haven't had time to get some good on-snow training. But I'm getting more and more used to the hills now and I'm handling the conditions much better."

Jocelyn Ramsden also made it two in a row on the women's side, this time coming back from a slower first run to take the win. Emma King dropped one spot to 10th, Kailee Darlington was 15th, Rae Swette 19th, Charley Field 29th, Celeste Pomerantz 59th and Alysia Kwong 61st.

"My second run was a lot better," said Ramsden. "I was a lot more aggressive at the start and went in with the attitude I had nothing to lose. I'm really excited about posting these results."

Broderick Thompson jumped to the front in the first slalom race, 1.73 seconds ahead of his closest competitor. Spencer Morris was consistent once again, in ninth place. Ford Swette dropped to 15th, John McIver was 20th, Brodie Seger 23rd, Charlie Renzoni 24th, Austin Llewellyn 26th, Ben Bethune 28th and Kyle Yates 39th.

On the women's side, Kailee Darlington was the top Whistler racer, sixth. Emma King was 11th, Rae Swette 12th and Alysia Kwong 40th. More than two dozen racers did not finish their first run, including Jocelyn Ramsden.

On the final day of racing Broderick Thompson was first again, almost a second ahead of his closest competitor. Spencer Morris jumped one more spot to eighth, Brodie Seger and Charlie Renzoni were 24th and 25th, Austin Llewellyn and Ben Bethune were 38th and 39th and Kyle Yates was 46th.

Jocelyn Ramsden led the Whistler women in the second slalom, finishing eighth. She was followed by Rae Swette in ninth and Sofi Leroux in 10th. Emma King was 14th, Celeste Pemerantz 33rd and Alysia Wong 40th.