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Sports Briefs: Jenna Spencer on podium at Igls

After spending the first three weeks of the World Junior Luge tour hovering around the podium in the top five, Whistler slider Jenna Spencer made the leap to the medals at Igls, Austria this past weekend with a third place result behind Karolina Von
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After spending the first three weeks of the World Junior Luge tour hovering around the podium in the top five, Whistler slider Jenna Spencer made the leap to the medals at Igls, Austria this past weekend with a third place result behind Karolina Von Schleinitz of Germany and Nina Prock of Austria. Teammate Emily Pacheco was 13th out of 33 racers.

Spencer's result was the highlight of the event as the Youth A men were kept off the podium for the first time this season. Mitchel Malyk was the top Canadian in sixth, while John Fennell was 12th out of 41 racers.

Conrad makes finals at opening U.S. Grand Prix

The pro halfpipe season got underway at Copper Mountain last weekend with the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix contest.

Squamish's Sarah Conrad had a solid showing, making the finals and then placing seventh overall. The top two were Americans Kelly Clark and Maddy Schaffrick, while Quera Castellet of Spain was third. Whistler's Mercedes Nicoll placed 15th, Alexandra Duckworth 23rd, Lauren Shanahan 33rd, Erin Lee 37th, Katie Tsuyuki 38th, Stephanie Meagher 40th and, Caylynn Irwin 43rd and Dallas Rourke 46th.

On the men's side it was all American with Luke Mitrani in first, Louie Vito second and Gregory Bretz third. The top Canadian was Justin Lamoureux in 18th, just missing the cut-off for the finals. Harrison Gray was 23rd, Brad Martin 24th, Trevor Niblett 43rd, Michael Ciccarelli 54th, Jeremy Page 62nd, Ben Horlings 66th, Anthony Wolf 69th, Joe Hills 77th, Derek Livingstone 79th, Ryan Tosi 81st and Felix Sevigny-Levesque 85th.

The pro riding continues this weekend with the Nike Open at Breckenridge, Colorado, which is the first stop of the Dew Tour.

Park Rider Sessions start Sunday

The Telus Park Rider Sessions get underway on Sunday, Dec. 18 with an All-Rounder Park Jam on Blackcomb. The events are open to everyone, skiers and riders of all ages, and participants will be broken into age groups to session the competition area.

Advance registration is strongly recommended as slopestyle events have been known to sell out, plus you save $6. Early registration at Guest Relations is $29 and day-of-event registration is $35 at the Rendezvous Lodge from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. You can also register online at www.whistlerblackcomb.com.

The after party is at 18 Below at 4 p.m., with video playback and draw prizes from sponsors.

A helmet is required to participate and mouth guards are strongly recommended as well. Minors under the age of 18 require a parent or guardian to sign the mandatory waiver.

WMSC hosts Teck races

The Whistler Mountain Ski Club is hosting the first zone event of the season, inviting clubs from the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island to take part in the Teck Races series. The event is open for K1 athletes (11 and 12 years old), K2s (13 and 14) and J1 racers (15 and 16), with the giant slalom on Saturday and the slalom on Sunday.

Close to 170 athletes will be taking part this year.

This will be the first official race since the designation of the Dave Murray National Training Centre on the Ptarmigan Run of Whistler Mountain — a dedicated training area for ski and snowboard racers and other disciplines that received a massive facelift over the summer.

Registration open for Tough Mudder

The Warrior Dash will not be returning to Whistler this summer because of logistical issues, including the fact that the maximum capacity of the venue is less than half of what the organizers have at other events. But for fans of obstacle course races that involve mud, barbed wire and open flames, there is another new event to come to the resort — the Tough Mudder.

The Tough Mudder is similar to the Warrior Dash, but with a few differences. It's newer for one thing, with the first events taking place in 2010. It's longer, with courses that average between 10 and 12 miles (16 and 19 kilometres) versus five miles (8km) for the Warrior Dash. It's also bigger with over 45 events taking place around the world in six countries.

Not only is the course longer than the Warrior Dash, the entire approach is different with an emphasis on teamwork and reaching the finish line rather than on posting the lowest time.

Most of the Tough Mudder events also support charities for wounded soldiers, and the Canadian events will support the Wounded Warriors of Canada.

The Whistler edition of the Tough Mudder (billed as the Vancouver event) will take place at Whistler Olympic Park on June 23-24.

Details on the course and on-courses obstacles/challenges will be posted when available at www.toughmudder.com.

Discounted rates are $110 per person, going up to $125 on Mar. 1. After May 1 it goes up to $150. If you do both days — and some people do — then you can get a 50 per cent discount for the second day.

All registrations include a free event t-shirt, refreshment and entry to the post-race party.

Comfortably Numb Trail Run date set

If you're looking for a real challenge and don't want to do the Tough Mudder two days in a row, the annual Comfortably Numb Trail Run has been confirmed for June 24. The run weighs in at 25km and follows the Comfortably Numb trail from Wedgemount to Lost Lake Park. Details at www.runthenothshore.com.