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Norwegian skiers rule Whistler Cup

Erik Read claims Dave Murray Award as top Canadian K1 boy If the 12 th annual Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup is any indication, then Norway will be known for more than its glaciers and fjords in about 10 years.
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Erik Read. Photo: Coast Mountain Photgraphy

Erik Read claims Dave Murray Award as top Canadian K1 boy

If the 12 th annual Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup is any indication, then Norway will be known for more than its glaciers and fjords in about 10 years.

For the second year in a row the Norwegian team won the Nations Cup, which is handed out each year to the top team of K1’s and K2’s (ages 11-12 and 13-14) in the Whistler Cup races. More than 300 racers took part this year, including juvenile skiers from Austria, Australia, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway and Slovakia.

In 10 races Norway claimed 11 medals, compared to seven for Austria and six for the U.S. The winner of the provincial cup was Ontario, which posted the strongest overall results.

Trophies were also presented to the top Canadians. At the K1 level the Dave Murray Award was presented, fittingly, to Calgary’s Erik Read. Erik’s father Ken Read is the president of Alpine Canada Alpin, and used to race with Dave Murray as one of the legendary Crazy Canucks.

"Dave was an inspiration to us on the team, and for the work he did with the Whistler community, the Whistler World Cups and Masters racing after he retired from the national team," said Ken Read. "Dave continues to be an inspiration through his legacy and this award. It’s great to see a new generation of Crazy Canucks step up and share in that legacy.

Although the top-ranked K2 was Ontario’s Brendan Long, the Dave Murray K2 award went to Brandon Mudryk of Alberta, who led Canadian results in two races, and missed the first event because of illness.

The Nancy Greene Awards, presented to the top Canadian women, went to K1 Shannon Campbell of Ontario and K2 Georgia Simmerling of Grouse Mountain.

The racers enjoyed three days of sunshine on the slopes. Although the snow did get soft and ruts were a factor for skiers with late start numbers, volunteers did their best to salt and smooth out the courses for the racers.

Results

The first race was a K2 super G on the Raven-Ptarmigan run on Whistler Mountain on Friday, April 2. For reasons of space only Whistler athletes in the top-50 will be mentioned, although complete results are available at www.whistlercup.com.

Anna Fenninger of Austria showed why her country dominates in World Cup speed events with a gold medal performance of one minute 13.57 seconds. Nina Loseth of Norway was hot on her heels with a time of 1:13.67. Austria also claimed the bronze, with Stefanie Gantnerova coming in at 1:13.93. All three racers are veterans of the Whistler Cup, and both Fenninger and Loseth were on the podium last year.

Three Canadians managed to crack the top-10 in this race, an improvement over last year. Grouse Mountain’s Georgia Simmerling, who was racing with Team Canada, led the way with a sixth place finish. Her time of 1:14.75 was less than a second off the podium.

"My goal today was to finish in the top eight," said Simmerling. "I did that, so I’m going to adjust that goal for tomorrow. I want to be top-five."

Two skiers from Quebec, Valerie Beland of Stoneham and Marie-Michele Gagnon of Club de Ski Le Chanteclerc, were seventh and ninth respectively.

From the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, Jen Mah was 35 th , Victoria Whitney 43 rd , and Katrina Dekur 50 th out of more than 90 skiers.

The men’s podium had the same national representation as women’s, with Austrian skiers in first and third and a Norwegian in second.

The gold went to Marcel Hirscher in 1:11.41. "The course is very fast, very good," he said, adding that he would like to be back here in 2010. "My goal here is to win, and all of the disciplines are my favourite."

Andreas Haug was second in 1:11.72 and Armin Triendl third in 1:12.58.

The only Canadian in the top-10 was Braden Long from the Georgian Peaks Ski Club in Ontario.

Long was the men’s juvenile GS champion and overall men’s champion the week before at the Mars Cup K2 nationals in Banff. He finished eighth in the Whistler Cup super G with a time of 1:14.76.

Two other Canadians made it into the top-15, both overcoming late start numbers. Dustin Cook from the Quebec team started in 43 rd position and moved up to the 12 th . His teammate Mark Syrovatka moved from 56 th into 13 th .

"It’s pretty hard mentally to start from the back, but I still went out there and attacked," said Syrovatka. "I’m not at all happy with my run. I didn’t inspect well enough, and I kept going for the outside gate, having to make some pretty crazy moves to recover. But I guess my time was okay.

"The super G is definitely my best event, but GS (giant slalom) is going very well for me right now. I trained a lot of gates after nationals. So I’m aiming for top-five."

Eight other Canadian men made it into the top-30 out of 76 racers. Thirteen racers went off course or missed gates.

Michael Kearney was the top racer from the WMSC, finishing 27th. Ben Podborski finished in 31 st position, just 0.14 seconds out of the top-30. Morgan Pridy was 35 th , Ben MacLean 45 th , and North Jones 48 th . Daniel Penn, the Whistler skier who led the B.C. team at the nationals, was 52 nd .

Both the K1’s and K2’s raced on the following day in the GS and slalom respectively.

In the women’s K1 GS, Norwegian skiers Lotte Sejerstedt and Kristina Riis-Johannessen took the top two spots with times of 50.59 and 50.78 respectively. Devin Delaney of the U.S. was third in 51.08.

The top Canadian was Toronto’s Madison Irwin in seventh place. Shannon Campbell from the Ontario team was ninth and Whistler’s own Brynne Benbow was 10 th while racing for B.C. Team #1. Three other Canadians, Aimee Bell-Pasht of Ontario and Quebec skiers Stephanie Marcil and Sophie Breton rounded out the top-15, finishing 12 th , 13 th and 15 th respectively.

From the WMSC, Madison McLeish was 21 st racing for B.C. Ski Team #2. Nancy Bayly was 31 st , Heidi Mah 42 nd , Lindsday Jones 45 th , and Jenny Higgins, Taylor Green and Kathleen Self 46 th through 48 th respectively out of a field of 93 competitors.

The boy’s GS went to Jorgen Brath of Norway, followed by Taylor Wunsch of the U.S. and Rocco Delsante of Italy in times of 48.47, 49.24 and 50.24 respectively.

The top Canadian was Richard Long from Team Ontario in eighth place with a time of 51.33. Four other Canadians cracked the top-15 – Ontario’s Michael Welton in 11 th , Andy Trow of Alberta in 12 th , Philip Brown of Ontario in 13 th and Calgary’s Erik Read in 14 th .

Whistler’s Ian Spence-Morrison finished 16 th in 52.94 among a field of 78 racers.

From the WMSC, Ian Penn was 40 th , Aidan Lee 41 st , and Ryan Ptolomey 49 th .

In the women’s K2 slalom, the top two spots once again went to Norwegians, with Nina Loeseth and Thea Grosvold blowing away the competition with times of 1:25.07 and 1:16.75 respectively. Austria’s Anna Fenninger was on the podium once again in third with a time of 1:27.08.

Three Canadians made the top-15, with Eliane Duquet of Quebec in 10 th , Alberta’s Andrea Bliss in 11 th and Georgia Simmerling in 15 th .

For Whistler, Jen Mah put in a solid race to finish 20 th out of 89 racers. Victoria Whitney was 40 th , Katrina Dekur 42 nd , and Brittany Cameron 50 th .

The men’s K2 slalom race was another Norwegian triumph with Andreas Haug and Markus Nilsen taking first and third with times of 1:23.05 and 1:24.61 respectively. Armin Triendl of Austria was second in 1:23.76.

Said Haug, "I think what makes Norwegians so fast is that we train almost every day. Today I just wanted to do a good job. Of course I’m happy to win but I didn’t expect to. The faster I go the happier I am, so downhill and super G are my favourite events."

Canada put three skiers in the top-10. In the lead was Brandon Mudryk of Alberta, who missed the super G the day before with an illness. He finished sixth with a time of 1:26.89.

"My goal was to be in the top 10 today, so I’m pretty happy," he said. "This is my third year at Whistler Cup and it’s always lots of fun."

Antione Morneau-Ricard of Quebec was seventh and Braden Long of Ontario 10 th . Trevor Rose of Windermere and Ontario’s Alexander Matheson were 12 th and 13 th to give Canada five skiers in the top-15.

From Whistler, Morgan Pridy was 32 nd , Daniel Penn 33 rd , North Jones 35 th , Smith Milner 38 th , Michael Dekur 44 th , and David Sandberg, Marley Smith and Christopher Green 47 th through 49 th .

On the final day of racing, the K1’s and K2’s switched places, with the K1’s on the slalom course and the K2s in the GS.

In the women’s K1 race, nobody was surprised to see the gold medal go to Kristina Riis-Johannessen of Norway who ran away with the race in a time of 1:13.39, more than four seconds faster than her closest competition.

Devin Delaney and Joelle Chevalier of the U.S. were second and third with times of 1:17.82 and 1:19.23.

Ontario’s Shannon Campbell posted Canada’s best result of the competition, finishing fifth with a time of 1:21.50.

Five other Canadians made the top-15. Marissa Riopelle and Madison Irwin of Ontario were eighth and ninth, Alberta’s Tatum Monod was 12 th , Maelle Bergeron of Penticton was 14 th and Ontario’s Laura Rozinowicz was 15 th .

Nancy Bayly was the top Whistler skier, finishing 18 th out of 93 girls. Taylor Green and Lindsay Jones were 21 st and 22 nd , Heidi Mah 26 th , Jenny Higgins 32 nd , Maddie Podborski 35 th , Chelsea Stanimir 41 st , Kendre Jefferson 44 th , Whitney Lyons 46 th and Kathleen Self 42 nd .

The men’s K1 slalom went to Rocco Delsante of Italy in 1:13.04, followed by Michael Ankeny and Michael Radford of the U.S.

Erik Read was the top Canadian once again, followed by fellow Albertans Andy Trow and Christopher Campbell in 10 th and 11 th . Jade Jamieson of Saskatchewan and Ben Williams of Ontario rounded out the top-15 in 13 th and 15 th .

Lee Aiden was the top Whistler skier in 35 th . Patrick Taillefer was 37 th , Isaac Penn 46 th , and Simon Timoshenko and Ian Spence-Morrison were 48 th and 49 th .

In the women’s K2 GS Anna Fenninger of Austria claimed her third medal in as many days with a time of 47.10. She edged out Thea Hovde and Nina Loeseth of Norway with times of 47.70 and 48.10 respectively.

Georgia Simmerling was once again the top Canadian, this time finishing ninth with a time of 49.59. She was also the only Canadian in the top-15.

Whistler’s Jen Mah was 20 th , Victoria Whitney 40 th , Deborah Bayliss 45 th and Sandra MacDonald 48 th .

In the men’s K2 race Markus Nilsen of Norway claimed another medal ahead of Marcel Hirscher and Max Franz of Austria. Braden Long and Brandon Mudryk were the top Canadians in 14 th and 15 th . Morgan Pridy was 47 th for Whistler.

Complete results are available online at www.whistlercup.com.