Members of the Mount Washington E2, K1, K2 and J1 Alpine Ski Team hosted and competed in the TECK Coast Zone Finals Race at Mount Washington this past weekend.   Under blazing spring skies on day 1 in the Giant Slalom Event Logan Frame started things off with a gold medal for the K2′s and Clinton Wood following suit also with a gold medal as well for the J1′s.  Robbie Yelland was close on the heels with a 4th place finish.  Jared  Perras of Campbell River placed 4th in the K1 category with Victoria athlete Zaria Djurickovic placing 10th in the GS as well.

E2 Sylvi Nymann took 3^rd and 2^nd place on the podium for a Bronze and a Silver in GS on day 1. Other GS results included Keegan McCooey of Cumberland placing 5^th, K2 Maja Nymann placing 6th. For the K1 women athletes Jamie Needham placed 16th and Heather Ellard-Webster placed 20th.

Also in the running for medals was E2 club athlete Kieran Harley of Victoria who took a Gold medal and a podium spot for his race 1 and then yet another podium for the Giant Slalom race 2 with a 3^rd place Bronze medal finish. Local valley athlete Emilly Johnston placed 3^rd  for a bronze medal and  5th while Ava Langevin placed 6^th and 9^th and Shea McCooey of Cumberland placed 12^th.  For the boys, Kieran Nilsen of Comox placed 4^th and 5th in the GS.

But it was Day 2 and in the Slalom event that these athletes earned their hardware.  With an unheard of clean sweep of the podium from Mt. Washington athletes were Liam Gilchrist (of Nanaimo) who took Gold, Cole Anderson of Campbell River who took Silver and Logan Frame of Campbell River who took away a Bronze for the K2 category. Clinton Wood of Campbell River also took a Gold medal in the J1 age group.  For top Slalom athletes overall again, it was a clean sweep for Mount Washington with Clinton Wood of Campbell River taking Gold, Cole Anderson of Campbell River taking Bronze and Liam Gilchrist of Nanaimo taking Silver.  Saanich Peninsula’s Robbie Yelland was again close on their heels placing 5^th.  Of note as well  Kieran Harley walked away with a  bronze medal in race 1 of the Slalom event and local athlete Eric Luchies placed 4^th in race 2 of the Slalom event and Jared Perras placing 9th and Calvin Cotton placing 15th.

For the women, Courtney Quin of Campbell River placed 2^nd overall in the J1 age category for Slalom.  In the K2 category Maja Nymann placed 10th with K2 team-mate Keegan McCooey placing 12th.  For K1 athlete Jamie Needham it was a respectable 11th place finish with Heather Ellard-Webster placing 15th in a very tough field of Slalom racers.  In the younger age group (E2) – Sylvi Nymann once again owned the podium with a Gold medal in the Slalom and also a 5^thplace finish for her second run while aKieran Nilsen of Comox placed 5th as did Avan Langevin in the first race.

It was a remarkable weekend for the Mount Washington Club athletes and many cannot recall when (if ever) there was a clean sweep of the podium.  A fantastic end to an incredible season – see you next year!

MOUNT HOOD MEADOWS, Oregon — Canadians Mariannick Therer and Ian Deans each won overall Nor-Am Cup ski cross titles and secured World Cup spots for next season after two days of racing at Mount Hood Meadows, Oregon.

Deans, of Kelowna, B.C., won both Saturday’s and Sunday’s races on the way to the overall title with 664 points. Teammates Robert Lepine, of Whistler, B.C., and Mathieu Leduc, of Comox, B.C., followed in second (535 points) and third (485 points), respectively.

“I feel relieved,” said Deans, 20. “I’ve been stressing about it for a little while as it’s been pretty tight and finally getting it off my chest is a huge relief. I’ve been working towards this all year, so it feels good.”  On Saturday, Lepine finished second behind Deans, while Robert Dunn, of Calgary, Alta., was third. On Sunday Leduc was second and France’s Thomas Domenach was third.

“Ian had really good starts both days,” said Alberta Ski Cross coach Stanley Hayer. “Today (Sunday) he won every start except for the final and then he passed in the first trapping section and never looked back. He was just really strong. He looked really focused.  “The best man won for sure.”  Deans is already looking forward to the possibilities of next season.

“I got to compete in one of the World Cups this year and it was amazing,” said Deans, who raced at Blue Mountain, Ont. “Just the support from everyone from the national team and allowing me to come with them was absolutely spectacular. If I can partake in that next year, oh I would work so hard to make sure I could stay.”

Therer, of Saint-Sauveur, Que., is in her first season racing ski cross after making the switch from alpine. The 20-year-old, who has been battling an injury suffered in the World Cup qualification round at Blue Mountain, needed just five points to take the Nor-Am Cup title.  Because of the injury, Therer competed only in Friday’s qualification heats, which was enough to get the necessary points and secure the title. She sat out the rest of the Saturday’s heats and Sunday’s race.

“I’m really happy about it,” said Therer, who took part in six World Cup races this season. “I came here to win it because I was five points short, so I came and I did what I had to do.”  Therer won the title with 596 points ahead of India Sherret, of Cranbrook, B.C., who was second with 525 points, and Whistler’s Sarah Lepine in third with 507 points.

“I’m happy to have my World Cup spot for next year, that’s really what I was looking forward to,” Therer said. “I’d like to thank Stan (Hayer) and his team for helping me out.”  The results in the women’s race were identical on both Saturday and Sunday with Lepine in first, followed by Sherret in second and the USA’s Lesley Wilson in third.

“It was really, really good,” said Lepine, 17. “I was really happy about it, it was my first Nor-Am wins of the year, so I’m really stoked about it.”  Lepine and Sherret, 15, just recently returned form the FIS Freestyle Skiing Junior World Championships, in Valmalenco, Italy, and have been battling each other all season in Nor-Am Cup races and did so again on Sunday.

“The final was close, it was a double pass,” explained Lepine. “I pulled out in front and then she passed me and then I passed her again in the end.”

The girls have formed a close friendship.

“All the girls are great like that. We get to know each other really well and especially me and India, as we just went to world juniors in Italy, so we were rooming together. So if I beat her, she punches me in the shoulder and is pissed off for a minute and then two minutes later we’re best friends again, so it’s fun.”

Lepine, Sherret and Therer were the only three Canadians competing the women’s races this weekend.

On the men’s side, several other Canadians saw top-10 results over the two days. Saturday Leduc was fifth, Mate Herauf, of Calgary, Alta., was sixth and Kevin MacDonald, of Mississauga, Ont., was seventh. On Sunday, Robert Lepine was fifth, Herauf was sixth, Dunn was seventh, Whistler’s Tyler Murray was ninth and MacDonald was 10th.

“We have a strong team and the U.S., they see that we’re starting to bump more athletes from their list,” Hayer said. “It was a pretty good year, we pretty much dominated the tour.”

While the ski cross Nor-Am Cup circuit came to a close Saturday, the racers are set to compete in the Sport Chek Ski Cross Canadian Championships from April 5-8 at Nakiska, Alta.

— Alpine Canada

Athletes from the K1 Team (11-13 year olds) and the Nancy Greene Ski League Team (9-11 year olds) faced fierce competition from some of the coast zones best athletes with close to two hundred racers representing clubs from Cypress Mountain, Grouse Mountain, Hemlock Valley, Manning Park, Mount Seymour, Mt. Washington and Whistler Mountain. The athletes competed in four separate events; Slalom Stubbies (small slalom gates), Slalom, Giant Slalom and a Kombi Race over the course of the two days.

The Mount Washington Ski Club athletes made more than an impressive showing at this race with 14 top 10 finishes overall and an impressive march to the podium for four of the athletes. Campbell River’s own Sylvi Nymann won a silver medal for the Girls Slalom with Comox’s Emily Johnston placing 3rd receiving a bronze medal in the same event and Hailey Nelson also of Comox placing 16th. Kieran Nilsen of Comox placed 3rd and headed to the podium twice to receive bronze medals for both the Boys Slalom Stubbies and Slalom events with Sam Purcell of Comox close on his heels with 7th place and 13th place finishes. Victoria’s own Eric Luchies also made an impressive showing with an amazing 5th place finish in the Boys Stubby Slalom and a 10th place finish in the Kombi on day 2. Other finishes for the Nancy Greene Ski League Racers included 21st, 20th and 13th for Chris Raduy of Qualicum Beach, 24th, 23rd and 25th for Charlie Wager of Campbell River and 22nd and 28th for Padraic Neill also of Victoria.

In the K1 category Victoria’s Kieran Harley placed 19th, 14th, 20th and 24th. Most impressive and awarded most improved skier for the Girls K1 group on day 2 was Mill Bay’s own Jamie Needham who consistently placed in the top 10 for all events with a 6th place finish in both Girls Slalom events, a 7th in the Giant Slalom and an 8th in the girls Kombi event.

Next up – Mount Washington Ski Club Hosts Coast Zone Race Experience the Podium on Whisky Jack March 3-4, 2012

COPY & PASTE THIS LINK INTO YOUR BROWSER FOR MWSC PHOTOS OF THIS RACE

http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/14022952313-1329266685-13787/

The Mt. Washington Ski Club held its first race of the season on January 13-15. The K1 (ages 10-12) event attracted 85 skiers from the Coast  Mountains, including Seymour, Cypress, Hemlock, Grouse and Whistler.

For many, this race was a qualifier for the BC Winter Games which led to quite a competitive event for the young athletes.  Skiers participated in 5 races – three Giant Slaloms and two Slaloms over the weekend. Nine members of the MWSC participated with impressive results,considering all are in their first year of the K1 program and were skiing against more experienced racers.

Kieran Harley, 10, from Victoria completed all five races in icy conditions and consistently placed in the top 20. Jared Perras, 11, from
Campbell River received two top 10 placements, a tenth and seventh in GS.  Other results included Sylvie Nymann (29^th Slalom), Jamie Needham (14^th GS), Calvin Cotton (27^thGS), Reine Minter (8^th GS and Slalom), Zariya Djurickovic (29^th Slalom), Heather Ellard-Webster (32^nd Slalom) and Taylor Nixon-Smith (27^th GS).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulwoz4oJ60o&feature=youtu.be

If you have any gear, clothing or equipment you would like to sell – you can now easily post it to the MWSC buy and sell blog.  If you are looking to buy gear, check it out at….http://mwscgear.blogspot.com