Technical races produce plenty of top-10 results
The national development team saw a lot of racing last week with five Nor Am Cup competitions for the men at Sunday River, Maine, and four women’s races at Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec.
Whistler’s Michael Janyk was on fire, winning gold and silver in the two slalom events.
On day one, Janyk jumped from second place in the standings to the gold medal with the fastest second run of the afternoon. James Cochran and Ted Ligety of the U.S. Team were second and third.
Whistler’s Scott Hume was 32 nd in that race.
Things went just the opposite the next day, with Janyk in first after his first slalom run then slipping back one position after the second run. He earned a silver medal for his effort.
The gold went to Ligety of the U.S., but after that it was almost an all-Canadian top-10.
Julien Cousineau of Lachute Quebec claimed the silver medal, and was trailed by two American skiers.
From Canada, Patrick Biggs, Scott Hume, Ryan Semple, Michael Tichy and Nick Zoricic were sixth through 10th respectively.
In the first of three giant slalom events, Cousineau was solid, moving up from fourth place after the first run to first place overall after the second. Jake Zamansky and James Cochran of the U.S. were second and third.
Ryan Semple, Francois Bourque and Nick Zoricic were fifth, eighth and ninth respectively, and Janyk and Hume were 11 th and 12 th .
The second giant slalom was even better for the Canucks with Semple, Bourque and Cousineau taking gold, silver and bronze. Patrick Biggs and John Kucera wrapped up the top-10 in sixth and ninth.
In the final day of racing, Cousineau and Semple were second and third overall behind Jake Zamansky of the U.S. Hume was 12 th .
Meanwhile the women have earned more than a few medals of their own in a pair of slalom and a pair of GS races at Mont-Sainte-Anne.
In the first slalom, Anna Goodman of Pointe Claire, Quebec, won a bronze for Canada behind Kaylin Richardson and Lauren Ross of the U.S. Anna Prchal was fifth, Jennah Durham sixth and Sophie Splawinski 10 th .
On the second day, Brigitte Acton of Sault-Ste-Marie, Ontario took the gold medal, followed by Richardson and Ross of Team USA. Splawinski moved up to fourth, Prchal was fifth, and Sara-Maude Boucher seventh to round out the top-10.
The first giant slalom saw two Canadians on the podium, Acton in first and Splawinski in second. Prchal was fifth once again, and Julie Rabnett was 10 th .
In the second GS, Acton was solid once again, winning her second gold medal in as many days.
"I’m very happy. I kept the same attitude and focus as yesterday, and everything went great," said Acton. "Many of the girls went out in the same section, so I was careful going through there. Now I think the whole team is ready for Europe (Europa Cup competitions), and we can’t wait to get there."
Splawinski was third, Prchal fifth (for a fourth time), Jessica Dakers was seventh and Goodman 10 th .
