Skiers from the Whistler Mountain Ski Club have all but swept regional competitions this year, heading into last weekend's K1 Teck Provincials at Big White. It was a much tougher challenge with the best K1 (age 11 and 12) racers in B.C. taking part, but the WMSC still managed to win 14 out of 36 podium positions, and 42 of 100 top-10 finishes.
On the opening day, racers took part in a one run giant slalom race after having a second race cancelled because of fog delays. In the girl's race, the WMSC's Rachel Vanderveen won the gold medal, with teammate Kelly Steeves taking the silver medal. Rounding out the top-10, Caitlin Millham was sixth.
For the boys, Jack Iles was second for the WMSC, with teammates Marc Leroux fourth, Sam Kirshenblatt fifth, Riley Seger seventh and Dalton Pehota eighth.
With sunny skies the next day the organizers were able to stage two one-run Kombi races, a format that combines several different racing styles onto a single course to test skills as well as speed.
Kelly Steeves took the win, with Emma Swaffield fourth, Caitlin Millham fifth and Rachel Vanderveen ninth. On the second run it was a WMSC podium sweep with Rachel Vanderveen first, Kelly Steeves second and Emma Swaffield third.
In the boys Kombi, Dalton Pehota was third, with Riley Seger placing fourth, March Leroux fifth, Jack Iles eighth and Cameron Alexander 10 th . In the second race, Dalton Pehota moved up to second, Jack Iles was third, Marc Leroux fourth, Cameron Alexander fifth, and Max Peiffer 10 th .
The final day was for slalom, with two individual runs taking place. In the first girls race Caitlin Millham was second for the WMSNC, with Emma Swaffield fourth, Elizabeth Kepl fifth, Mikayla Martin sixth, Rachel Vanderveen ninth and Kelly Steeves 10 th .
In the second run Emma Swaffield picked up the silver medal, with Kelly Steeves fourth, Elizabeth Kepl eighth and Stefanie Fleckenstein ninth.
There were no podiums in the boys first slalom, with Marc Leroux in fifth place, Sam Kirshenblatt ninth, and Dalton Pehota 10 th . In the second race, Riley Seger won the gold medal and Marc Leroux picked up the bronze medal. Jack Iles also cracked the top-10, finishing in sixth place.
"WMSC had a strong show this weekend, clearly establishing a lead as a club in the province," said K1 head coach Raul Anguita. "The athletes have matured and can follow advice and adhere to a strategy in the competition. I am very happy with the results, not only for those that were in the top-10, but to all the racers that have greatly improved."
The results from Big White will be used to select skiers to represent Team Canada and Team B.C. at the K1 nationals.
