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WMSC skiers shine at Sun Peaks

Romanin, Woolley highlight weekend for local club
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ROAMING TO THE TOP Nathan Romanin won twice in U16 action on the weekend. Photo by Hans Forssander

Whistler Mountain Ski Club's U16 athletes made it to the top at Sun Peaks over the weekend.

Nathan Romanin headlined the men's side, topping the podium in the giant slalom on Jan. 6 and the slalom on Jan. 8.

"I had lots of rest, was super fuelled and was confident in my skiing going in," he said. "In all my races, I just went in with a positive mindset and it worked out well for me."

Romanin's giant slalom, in particular, was impressive as he dominated the field, finishing 2.72 seconds up on second-place Gerrit Van Soest of Vernon.

"I just skied really clean and consistently the whole way down and ended up well ahead of the rest of the field," he said. "That was a good confidence booster. I was definitely nervous in the gate, but then coming down and seeing I was that far ahead, that was quite awesome, for sure."

His second victory had less of a gap as Van Soest finished 0.47 seconds back in the slalom. Romanin lost the chance to sweep the weekend as he did not finish the first run of Saturday's slalom.

Romanin has his eye on attending U16 nationals at Loch Lomond Ski Area near Thunder Bay, Ont., in February. A strong showing there would boost his chances of qualifying for Alpecimbra Children's Cup at Folgario Fondo Grande, Italy in March.

"If I could get out there, that would be a good experience for sure. That's my main goal this year," he said. "I've had lots of offseason training in the gym and on the hill. I spent close to a month training in New Zealand in the month of August. It was good and definitely paid off for me."

On the women's side, Maja Woolley was a standout, medalling all three days. She started the weekend with second-place showings in the giant slalom and first slalom before jumping a spot and capping the weekend with a triumph.

Woolley said she had experienced a few challenges leading into action at Sun Peaks, but put it together shortly before the runs started to count.

"I was just trying to stay positive with everything. Everything just came together the week before the race and I was just starting to ski really well," she said. "I was just having some issues. The way I was skiing wasn't going so well and my lines (weren't the best ones), but I figured it out the week before."

Woolley's win was a boost to her spirits as she'd had a couple days of being close to the top to motivate her to a runaway win — she bested Grouse Mountain's Ksenija Kaludjercic by 2.40 seconds.

"It was the best day because that's the first day that everything actually came together. I got two clean runs. In the other slalom, I crashed and in the GS, I didn't have a very good run," Woolley said.

Woolley wasn't the only women's skier to take a gold as Gigi Kranjc captured the first day's giant slalom to go along with a fourth in slalom. Alexandra Chartrand was eighth in the giant slalom and sixth and 10th in the slaloms. Julia Ross and Adelaide Tiller made the top 10 twice over the weekend whIle Freya Jumonville and Una Brudar each made a single appearance.

As for the men, Alexander Valentin took a win in the first slalom while Kieran Harley took third. Harley was also fifth in the second slalom while Tait Jordan was sixth in giant slalom.

For complete results, visit www.live-timing.com.