Pemberton's Floyd Guy came through in a big way at the U12 North American Freeride Championships at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort on April 8.
Guy pulled off a 360 to qualify first and held the position, claiming the top spot by 0.7 points.
"In qualifiers, I always wanted to put down a solid run knowing that the best boys from North America were there," he said. "I was pretty nervous, but then I qualified first and that gave me more of a feeling that I've got this."
Guy said he knew everyone was going to bring it in finals, but at least as the top qualifier, he would drop last and know what he was up against.
In the finals run, he had only enough space for a couple different features, with the double drop of a five-footer going into a 15-footer (1.5 metre to a 4.6 m drop) being the highlight. Guy dedicated his finals run to coach Matic Gobec, whose father passed away recently.
While both qualifiers and finals were on the same face, finals offered several more terrain options, Guy recalled.
"I hit really different features for my qualifiers run compared to my finals run," he said. "For my finals run, I went to the left but for my qualifiers run, I went way far right."
Guy's season was a successful one overall, being that he threw his first double backflip, though he acknowledged that it wasn't always an easy one.
"My season was awesome. I learned a lot of new tricks, but at the same time, in the first two months of my season, I broke my thumb in school, then tweaked my knee, then I broke my wrist between qualifiers and finals at Red Mountain," Guy said. "I still managed to podium at every event with (only) one hand in two events."
Guy is moving up to the 12-to-14 division next year and is pumped for the challenge.
"I'm really excited to compete with most of my friends because they get way more bigger features so it'll be fun," he said.
Also competing at the U12 event was Brooke Hemstead, who placed eighth in the women's event.
Coaches Summit coming
Whistler Sport Legacies and Canadian Sport Institute Pacific are hosting the second-annual Whistler Coaches Summit from April 26 to May 5.
Hosted at the Whistler Athletes' Centre, visiting coaches can complete a week full of courses or mix and match based on what National Coaching Certification Program modules they need to earn their certification or professional development points.
Complete details are available at www.whistlersportlegacies.com/sport-programs-services-accommodation/events/whistler-coaches-summit-2019.
Equestrian athletes kick off season
Members of the Pemberton Valley Equestrian Centre opened the 2019 show season with the Tbird Hunter Jumper April Season Opener at Langley's Thunderbird Show Park from April 16 to 21, posting some solid results in the process.
Lara Esslinger made her show debut on Rivaldi, emerging as the grand champion and the reserve champion in the 0.85-metre open jumper and junior amateur jumper divisions.
Dr. Laura White, on Ti Amo Dora, posted results of second, fourth, and ninth in the 0.85-metre open and junior amateur divisions. She also put up a third-place showing in the new strides thoroughbred class.
Meanwhile, Judy Ameli, riding her newly acquired horse Cortez D, was third in the one-metre junior amateur jumper event while she posted a pair of third-place finishes to go with fifth- and sixth-place showings in the open training and junior amateur jumper 1.10-metre contests.
Meanwhile, Chelsea McNeil rode Sally Warner's horse Lexington von Darco to a first-place finish in the 1.10-metre open jumper division.
Lastly, Gabby Holland and her horse, Icarius, finished as reserve champion in the open and junior amateur 1.10-metre divisions on the strength of three second-place, two third-place and one fifth-place finish.
Axemen in semi-finals
The Axemen Rugby Club will officially start playoff action this Saturday.
After taking a bye because its first-round opponent could not field a team, the Axemen will face Chilliwack in the BC Rugby Union Division 3 semi-finals at Howe Sound Secondary School at 12:45 p.m. on April 27.
The winner will face the winner of the other semi, played between Richmond and Westshore, in the final on May 4.
