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Long leads Canada to Nations Cup

Host country claims top honours at Whistler Cup, first time in 15 years
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Ontario's Richard Long leads Canadians to win at Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup last weekend. Photo by Scott Brammer, coastphoto.com

By Andrew Mitchell

In the 2006 Whistler Cup, Canadians skiers picked up a record three medals, including the first gold medal ever won by the home team. The achievement showed how strong Canada’s grass roots programs have become in recent years, while also showing that our juvenile skiers can compete turn for turn with the top European nations.

This past weekend, at the 15 th anniversary of the Whistler Cup, the Canadian team built on the previous year’s success by medaling in several events, piling on the top-15 finishes, and winning the overall Nations Cup for the first time ever. The results were team-wide, with both K1 skiers (age 11 to 12) and K2 skiers (age 13 to 14) finding the podium.

The biggest star of the weekend was Collingwood, Ont. K2 skier Richard Long, the reigning national champion for two years and the top K2 in 2006. Long collected two gold medals and a silver medal and was the top skier at this year’s Whistler Cup. Other multiple-medal winners among the K2s included American Kieffer Christianson, Czech Barbora Pyrochtova and Austrian Mirjam Puchner.

For the K1s, Slovenian Nina Znider swept the women’s races, while American Mardene Haskell and Pole Daniel Maryna Gasienica shared the silver and bronze medals. Michele Gualazzi of Italy nabbed two gold medals for the K1 boys, while teammate Andrea Provera had a pair of silver medals.

Day One — K1 Kombined, K2 Super G

The Canadian skiers lost no time in establishing themselves as the team to beat this year, with Richard Long taking the gold medal in the K2 super G, leading a podium sweep that included Toronto’s Andrew Solomon in second place, and Kamloops’s Tyler Mackenzie third. Julian Sheiner of Quebec just missed the podium in fourth place.

For Long, who specializes more in the technical events, the result was somewhat unexpected.

“My goal today was to win, although I’m usually a little stronger in slalom and GS,” he said.

“I had fun, it’s always fun. The best in the world are here, so the level of competition is high. It’s always good to get a benchmark and see where you are compared to the rest of the kids your age in the world.

“I had a good run, but it was a little sketchy at the bottom. The track is really fast in places and pretty turny in others. You really needed to do a good inspection because you had to know where the blind gates were. If you didn’t see it coming, you could be in trouble.”

Solomon is Long’s teammate in Ontario, and said the two skiers are always pushing each other. “Three Canadians on the podium — how cool is that?”

Trevor Philp of Banff also cracked the top-15 for Canada, finishing in 12 th place.

Michael Cadman was the top Whistler Mountain Ski Club racer in 27 th , in a field of over 90 racers. Willy Konantz just missed the top 30, finishing 31 st .

The Canadians also captured a podium spot on the women’s side, with Camille Gilbert of Quebec taking the third spot behind Mirjam Puchner of Austria and Czech skier Barbora Pyrochtova. Emilie Lamoureux, also of Quebec, secured Canada’s other top-15, placing 12 th .

Whistler’s Madison McLeish, the K2 national champion, placed 21 st , while Elyse Timoshenko was 26 th .

In the K1 Kombi event, which is a combination of slalom, giant slalom and super G disciplines, six Canadian skiers finished in the top-15.

The podium went to Michele Gualazzi of Italy, followed by Oskari Vahapassi of Finland and Michael Boardman of the U.S.

The WMSC’s Broderick Thompson was the top Canadian in seventh place, followed by Kyle Farrow in eighth and Erik Mortveit in ninth. Filip Kilibarda, the WMSC’s Matthew Segal, and Tony Naciuk were 11 th through 13 th . The other Whistler club skier in the top-30 was Kyle Gardiner, 29 th .

On the women’s side, Nina Znidar of Slovenia posted the top time, followed by Mardene Haskell of the U.S, and Poland’s Daniel Maryna Gasienica. The WMSC’s Kailee Darlington just missed the podium in fourth place. Other Canadians in the top 15 were Devon Clarke, Candace Crawford, Jackie Heath and Alexi Beauchemin in eighth through 11 th . Charley Field, skiing consistently all season, was 23 rd for the WMSC, while Taryn Mark squeezed into the top-30 in 29 th position out of over 90 starters.

Day Two — K1 Giant Slalom, K2 Slalom

Richard Long proved Friday’s result was no fluke, picking up his second gold medal in the K2 slalom. American skiers Kieffer Christianson and Taylor Shiffrin picked up the next two spots, but three other Canadians joined Long in the top-15 — Dylan Ross sixth, Dylan Fisher-McCarney 10 th and Connel Timmons 13 th . The WMSC’s Isaac Penn placed 30 th .

Long, who had close to a second of leeway after his first run, didn’t crack under pressure.

“I tried not to think about it. I tried to think of it as just a normal training run,” he said. “I wasn’t really worried about winning as much as knowing that I put down a good run. I’m not necessarily trying to win, I’m just trying to push harder and see if I can go faster. And it’s working so far.”

On the women’s side, Austrian skiers swept the podium, with Valentina Fankhauser first, Andrea Pomberger second and Mirjam Puchner third.

Camille Gilbert was the lone Canadian girl in the top-10, although Stephanie Marcil, Madison McLeish and Emilie Lamoureux were 11 th , 12 th and 15 th respectively. Elyse Timoshenko was the top Whistler racer, 26 th .

In the K1 men’s giant slalom, Mikael Svensk of Finland finished on top, Andrea Provera of Italy was on the second step, and Callum Brown of Australia earned the bronze. The top Canadians were Kyle Farrow and Conner Honey, 14 th and 15 th respectively.

For the WMSC, Broderick Thompson finished 17 th , Brodie Seger 22 nd , and Kyle Gardiner 30 th .

On the women’s side, Slovenia’s Nina Znider won her second gold medal, while Poland’s Daniel Maryna Gasienica moved up to second and American Mardene Haskell dropped to third.

The WMSC’s Kailee Darlington was the top Canadian, in sixth place. Candace Crawford and Alexi Beauchemin also cracked the top-15, 11 th and 13 th respectively. Also for Whistler, Taryn Mark was 22 nd , Rae Swette 26 th , and Charley Field 29 th .

“My run was pretty fast, but I felt like I was sliding a lot,” Darlington told Alpine Canada. “The top was really strong for me, but I struggled at the bottom.”

Day Three — K1 Slalom, K2 Giant Slalom

Richard Long missed a gold medal for the first time, settling for second place behind Kieffer Christianson of the U.S. Christian Feiersinger of Austria picked up the bronze.

Long’s teammate Andrew Solomon was the only other Canadian to crack the top-15, in seventh place. No Whistler skiers finished in the top-30, though Isaac Penn came closest in 33 rd .

The women did not do any better, with Camille Gilbert the lone Canadian in the top-15 in 15 th position. The top Whistler skier was Elyse Timoshenko, 39 th .

The podium was all Eastern European, with Ula Hafner of Slovenia on top, Barbora Pyrochtova of Czech Republic second, and Martina Dubovska of Slovakia third.

In the K1 slalom, Whistler’s Matthew Segal led the Canadian effort with a ninth place finish, followed by Marcus Henry and Robby Grieg. Martin Grasic and Thomas Trusler were 13 th and 15 th respectively.

First and second place went to Italy, with Michele Gualazzi first and Andrea Provera second. Conrad Plating of Finland was third.

Other Whistler skiers in the top-30 were James Pitblado 17 th and Brodie Seger 18 th .

On the women’s side, the podium was a repeat for the third time, with Slovenia’s Nina Znidar sweeping the gold medals. American Mardene Haskell and Poland’s Daniel Maryna Gasienica swapped places once again, with the American second and the Pole third.

For the Canadians, Devon Clarke just missed the podium, finishing fourth. Canadian skiers swept the top half of the top-15, with Alix Wells, Jackie Heath, Taryn Mark, Alexi Beauchemin, Rebecca Bermel and Thea Miles in 10 th through 15 th . Whistler’s Charley Field was 16 th , Picabo Reeves tied for 21 st , Kailee Darlington was 26 th , and Emma King 30 th .

Overall

Canadians earned a total of 228 points, edging the U.S. by six points. Austria was third in 190 points.

Alpine Canada held a training camp for the top athletes across the country for three days before the Whistler Cup, using national team coaches.

“We had a good little training camp prior to the event and we felt really prepared entering the competition,” said Benoit Lalande, Alpine Canada’s eastern development director. “Everybody did really well. It’s not easy to come into these competitions and perform at the level that these kids were able to perform at.”

After the races, the Dave Murray Award for the best Canadian male skiers and Nancy Greene Award for best female skiers were presented.

Richard Long was the obvious choice in the men’s K2 category, while Whistler’s Broderick Thompson was the top K1. Camille Gilbert of Quebec was the top K2, while Whistler’s Kailee Darlington finished on top of the K1 list.

This year the Whistler Cup played host to 400 racers representing 20 nations.