Sea to Sky lugers put together some strong performances at their home track on Sunday, Nov. 10 in Luge Canada's final junior seeding race.
The event brought together the best young products of the Whistler Sliding Centre as well as youth racers based out of the Calgary track.
Whistler's Reid Watts had the top overall finish in the men's event, placing first with a time of one minute, 39.513 seconds after the best two of three runs were counted and time handicaps were added for junior-aged sliders. Watts finished nearly four-tenths of a second ahead of fellow local youth slider Adam Shippit, who finished in the runner-up spot at 1:39.912. Alberta junior Tim Stone (1:39.945) finished third.
Sea to Sky sliders occupied three of the top four positions, as Nicky Klimchuk-Brown (2:30.182) finished in fourth place.
In the women's race, junior racer Rachel Klassen clocked a winning two-run time of 1:47.582, edging fellow Albertan Brooke Apshkrum (1:48.219) for first position.
Pemberton's Jenna Spencer, one of the athletes to have a time handicap added, placed third overall in the final results with a time of 1:48.567.
Alberta luger Kayla Graham finished in fourth place, while Pemberton's Nicole Pidperyhora (1:49.144) earned a fifth-place finish.
Junior national team coaches will now be reviewing the results of preseason seeding races to help determine which athletes will race for Canada in Junior World Cup competition this winter. A team announcement is expected to be made in the coming days.
P'ayak sign-up open online
Registration is open for the fourth annual Sigge's P'ayakentsut cross-country ski event, which is scheduled to take place over two days at Whistler Olympic Park this winter.
Though early-bird sign-up is now closed, skiers can head to www.payak.ca to register for the event, which will hold the main loppet race on Feb. 22 and youth events the following day. This year's P'ayak will be held in conjunction with a B.C. Winter Games competition that will also be taking place in the Callaghan Valley.
Event chair Dirk Rhode added that participation in the event has increased by 20 per cent each year and he's hopeful to see that continue. More than 400 skiers took on one of the P'ayak's varying distances in 2013, which range from 15 to 50 kilometres.
"It will not be long before we reach our goal of being an international destination event," said Rhode in a release. "Our success is proof of the popularity of cross country, which is in a growth phase."
Basketball coaches needed
The high school basketball season will get underway later this month and Whistler Secondary School Storm squads are looking for volunteer coaches to guide them on the hardcourt through the winter.
No previous coaching experience is necessary, but interested coaches should bring some knowledge of the game and playing experience.
Coaching commitments would run from Nov. 25 until mid-February. The teams generally practice twice per week, with games being played once every couple of weeks or so.
Interested coaches, or those looking for more info, can contact Georgina Titus at gtitus@sd48.bc.ca or at 604-905-2581.
