Dustin Cook's performance was a major bright spot in a challenging year for Alpine Canada's men's contingent.
The Ottawa native put an exclamation point on 2014-15 with his first FIS World Cup win in Meribel, France, on March 19. In the super-G, Cook posted a time of one minute, 6.04 seconds (1:06.04) emerging by 0.05 seconds over Norway's Kjetil Jansrud, the reigning Olympic champion.
"I had a really good warm-up this morning and it felt amazing. When I saw that it was only one minute six seconds long, I knew we had to charge as that's a really short Super-G," Cook said in a release. "I went out of the gate and I really wanted to win. I visualized it last night. I stepped in and I skied some parts really well, I made a couple of mistakes and I left the door open for someone to take the win but charging and making a couple of mistakes is better than skiing easy and slow."
Cook hit the podium three times this season and was in the top 20 six times. Before the start of the year, his highest previous World Cup finish was 12th.
North Vancouver's Manny Osborne-Paradis was 16th after notching a time of 1:06.96.
On the women's side, Collingwood, Ont.'s Erin Mielzynski finished eighth in the slalom at Meribel on March 21. She notched a time of 1:35.41 compared to the winning time of 1:34.08 from American Mikaela Shiffrin.
In terms of the overall titles, Austrians Anna Fenninger and Marcel Hirscher proved victorious. Hirscher set a record with his fourth title, while Fenninger won her second in a row.
Whistler Cup rosters finalized
A plethora of skiers will feel right at home when the Whistler Cup kicks off next week.
Twelve Whistler Mountain Ski Club members will compete in the U16 division.
On the women's side, Katie Fleckenstein will be on Team Canada, while Ella Renzoni and Mollie Jepsen will suit up for Team BC. Erin Dawson, Sierra King and Ester Stambolian round out the BC Quota contingent. Martina Gershon and Meg Swaffield were named as alternates.
As for the men, Asher Jordan will wear the Team Canada maple leaf, while Kasper Woolley, Kyle Alexander, Myles Kowalczyk and Alex Valentin are on Team BC. Jack Forsyth is part of the BC Quota.
In the U14 division, Nathan Romanin and Maja Woolley will compete as part of Team BC. Romanin is coming off a win in the men's slalom in Revelstoke on March 21 where he beat second-place competitor Logan Dunn by nearly three seconds.
Racing will run from April 3 to 5.
Whistler Freeride Club dominates at home
The Whistler Freeride Club defended its turf at the GoPro Junior Freeski Challenge.
In the event held from March 19 to 22, club members and independent locals secured two of the three medals in all of the four divisions.
In the women's 12 to 14 division, Aoife Gannon took gold and Olivia McNeill silver, while Karina Jorgensen-Fulham was fifth, Amanda Constantini seventh and Mary Power eighth.
In the men's 12 to 14 division, Eric Peiffer won gold and Troy Rozsypalek bronze, while Cole Alexander, Alex Brooks, River Stanger and Nathan Holm all hit the top 10 taking spots six through nine, respectively.
Competing as an independent, Jackson Bathgate topped the men's 15 to 18 division, finishing in a tie with Whitewater Freeride Team's Sam Kuch. Liam Peiffer was third. Cooper Bathgate tied for fifth to round out the top 10 performances by locals.
In the women's 15 to 18 division, Carlene Loughlin was first and Rhegan Williamson third. Sophia Quinn, Talia Metzler and Julie Letizia were in spots six, seven and eight, respectively, while Helena Hoppenrath was 10th.
Milan's Huskies to kick off Frozen Four on Friday
Garrett Milan's search to culminate his NCAA Division I career with a championship will begin Friday.
Milan and his St. Cloud State Huskies will open the 2015 Frozen Four tournament against the Michigan Tech Huskies in Fargo, N.D., on Friday, March 27. The advancing team will face either No. 2 North Dakota or Quinnipiac the next day and will attempt to stay alive in hopes of making the championship game at Boston's TD Garden on April 11.
Milan, a 23-year-old forward, recorded an assist in 11 games with the Huskies this season.
Clarification: In the article "Whistler Cycling Club holds AGM" in last week's Pique, Cathy Zeglinski was indentified as the Team Whistler physician. She will also be racing for the team.
