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Whistler K2s in the medals at Mars championships

B.C. 13-14-year-olds among best in country; ready to take on world in Whistler Cup Team B.C.

B.C. 13-14-year-olds among best in country; ready to take on world in Whistler Cup

Team B.C. made several trips to the podium at the Mars K2 National Championships at Sunshine Village and Mount Norquay in Banff last week as they faced 140 of the top racers from around the country.

The 21-member B.C. team included nine skiers from the Whistler Mountain Ski Club with Rob Boyd serving as head coach.

The top K2 racers from Banff will go on to represent Team Canada in the Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup international juvenile races this weekend. Others will represent their provinces and clubs.

After a snowstorm delayed the start of the Mars races on Tuesday, March 23, the races got underway on Wednesday with a super G.

Whistler’s Daniel Penn led the way for Team B.C. all week, starting with a second place finish between Braden Long of Ontario and Nicolas Gosselin on Ontario. Penn’s time of 59.41 seconds was just 0.25 seconds out of first place.

Although Penn was the only Whistler athlete in the top-15, Michael Kearney came close with a 16 th place finish and a time of 1:01.06.

Ben Podborski was 50 th and Morgan Pridy 61 st out of 83 racers. Smith Milner did not finish.

In the first women’s SG, Marie-Michele Gagnon of the Quebec team blew the competition away with a time of 58.02 seconds, 1.4 seconds ahead of teammate Valerie Beland. Ontario’s Bronwyn Oatley was third in 59.54.

B.C.’s top racer was Victoria Glowczynski of Sun Peaks, who finished fourth with a time of 1:00.22.

Whistler’s top racers was Jennifer Mah in 24 th , who finished in 1:02.90. Katrina Dekur and Victoria Whitney were 56 th and 57 th out of 78 racers.

Daniel Penn was the top story in the second SG on the following day, which was not a championship race. Penn took advantage of the faster course conditions to lay down a blistering run of 56.33 to claim a gold medal. Antoine Morneau of Quebec was second in 56.99, followed by Nicolas Gosselin of Ontario in 57.21 seconds.

Morgan Pridy was 58 th , Ben Podborski 61 st , and Smith Milner 64 th . Michael Kearney did not finish.

Marie-Michele Gagnon was once again the girl to beat in the SG with the fastest time of the day for both boys and girls. Her time of 56.02 was more than a second faster than Albertan Kelly McBroom’s time of 57.08. Valerie Beland was third again with a time of 57.40.

Jennifer Mah was Whistler’s fastest once again in a tie for 24 th in 1:00.41. Victoria Whitney was 38 th , Sarah Marshall 48 th , and Katrina Dekur 56 th .

The championships continued on Friday with the giant slalom.

None of the Whistler skiers made the podium in this event, but Team B.C. athletes medalled in both the men’s and women’s races.

In the men’s race Trevor Rose of Windermere finished less than half a second behind Brandon Mudryk of Alberta, with times of 1:59.53 and 1:59.04 respectively. European skier Kim Massey was third in 1:59.77.

From Whistler, Ben Podborski and Smith Milner were 29 th and 30 th respectively, and Morgan Pridy was 39 th . Daniel Penn was among the 12 racers that did not finish the race after he lost a ski.

In the women’s GS, Marie-Michele Gagnon went three-for-three with yet another gold medal performance in a time of 1:57.80 over two runs. Georgia Simmerling of Grouse Mountain led the B.C. Team with a second-place finish in 1:58.59. Kelly McBroom of Alberta was third in 1:58.78.

Sarah Marshall and Katrina Dekur were 36 th and 37 th for Whistler, Victoria Whitney was 48 th and Jennifer Mah 60 th .

The K2 nationals wrapped up on Saturday with the slalom championships. Daniel Penn was up on his game once again to finish in fifth place with a two-run time of 1:28.79. Penn was in second place after his first run, but dropped back three spots after his second run.

Ontario’s Braden Long was the man to beat with the two fastest runs of the day. His combined time of 1:27.45 was almost three seconds faster than Francis Pratte of Quebec’s1:27.24 and Mike Dea of Ontario’s 1:27.55.

Morgan Pridy and Ben Podborski were 38 th and 39 th and Smith Milner was 42 nd .

Alberta’s Andrea Bliss took the women’s slalom title in 1:28.18.

Georgia Simmerling of Grouse was second in 1:29.71, and Kelly McBroom third in 1:30.42.

Jennifer Mah leapt into the top-15 with an 11 th place finish in 1:34.88. Victoria Whitney was 13 th . Sarah Marshall did not finish.

Boyd said he was happy with the performance of his Whistler skiers and the other members of Team B.C.

"There were some tough sets, it was a tough hill," said Boyd.

"It was a really good group, and they were a pleasure to work with. They are all really good and really keen, and I think we got some important stuff through to them about bigger competitions like this, like how much of a mind game it is even at that age and level.

"Of course we’re not intentionally playing mind games, but the skiers can’t help but look at the big kids to see how much further they are behind or in front, and how they stack up. They all see how much of it does come down to the mental approach."

Penn’s skiing was especially good, said Boyd. "If his ski didn’t come off in that one race, he would have done some really good things in that race as well, but that’s racing sometimes, and we all learn from it."

Boyd was also happy with the way the girls from Whistler improved on their performance in the slalom, moving to the front of the pack after three tough days of racing.

"I told the kids to ski the top pitch, where everyone was skiing out, to ski it safe, ski it smart and hammer it at the bottom, and that seemed to work and I think that’s one of the reasons they finished a little higher up the rankings," said Boyd.

The K2s will be back in action this weekend in the 12 th annual Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup. The event will bring more than 300 racers to Whistler, including more than 100 international racers representing almost 20 nations, including alpine skiing powerhouses like the U.S., Austria, France and Italy.

"They’re hungry for it," said Boyd. "They’ve already had their championships – the provincial kids finished a little earlier and the national championship kids will have a couple of days off – but they learned a lot while there, and I think they’ll be ready to step it up for the Whistler Cup."

For more information visit the Whistler Mountain Ski Club site at www.whistlermountainskiclub.com.