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Daniel Penn of Whistler set the stage for Team BC today, winning the Super-G at the Mars K2 Canadian Championships at Sunshine Village Resort.
The 14-year-old Whistler Mountain Ski Club athlete took the lead in the overall standings following his second place finish in Wednesday's championship race. Starting in the eleventh position, Penn stopped the clock at 56.33, a time which stood up through the field of 83 male racers and nearly a second ahead of Antoine Morneau of Quebec and Nicolas Gosselin of Ontario.
The charismatic up-and-comer defended the Super-G title for BC and for the Whistler club after Matthew Holler's win at last season's championships. Sasha Zaitsoff, of the Red Mountain Racers (Rossland), finished 14th Thursday which was the second fastest time for 13-year-olds.
On the girl's side, Georgia Simmerling of Vancouver and the Grouse/Tyee club tied with teammate Elli Terweil (Sun Peaks Alpine Club) for fifth overall and BC's best finish. Victoria Glowczynska, also of Sun Peaks, just missed the podium in Wednesday's championship race finishing fourth.
Team BC Head Coach Rob Boyd was impressed with today's performances. “We had a bit of a slow start in the first race but today our team really charged the race course and it paid off,” said the former World Cup racer. “Dan's race today has lifted our team and I believe our best is yet to come.”
Team BC currently is in third in the provincial standings, behind Ontario and Quebec.
The 2004 Mars K2 Canadian Championships features 160 racers from 11 Provinces and Territories is for many of the athletes the first time racing at a national level. The Championships continue tomorrow with the Giant Slalom and then into the Slalom on Saturday.
BOY'S SUPER-G
1 PENN Daniel BC (Whistler) 0:56.33
2 MORNEAU-R. Antoine QC 0:56.99
3 GOSSELIN Nicolas ON 0:57.21
4 LONG Braden ON 0:57.28
5 LEVESQUE Vincent QC 0:57.34
6 MUDRYK Brandon AB 0:57.50
7 FINNEGAN Patrick QC 0:57.66
8 LAVERDURE Philippe QC 0:57.93
9 SHEPHERD Jesse ON 0:57.97
10 COOK Dustin QC 0:58.01
11 MATHESON Alexander ON 0:58.31
12 MASSEY Kim NORWAY 0:58.42
13 DESCHESNES Hugo QC 0:58.43
14 ZAITSOFF Sasha BC (Rossland) 0:58.48
15 BEAUCHESNE M-Antoine QC 0:58.50
GIRL'S SUPER-G
1 GAGNON Marie-Michele QC 0:56.02
2 MCBROOM Kelly AB 0:57.08
3 BELAND Valerie QC 0:57.40
4 LEPINE Marie-Elaine QC 0:57.78
5 SIMMERLING Georgia BC (Vancouver) 0:58.46
6 TERWIEL Elli BC (Kamloops) 0:58.46
7 POLESCHUK Nicole AB 0:58.62
8 DUQUET Eliane QC 0:58.72
9 FARMER Connie ON 0:58.86
10 BLANCHARD Catherine QC 0:59.11
11 RYLEY Kate ON 0:59.36
12 JACQUEMIN Charlotte QC 0:59.51
13 KOFMAN Mikaela ON 0:59.53
14 OATLEY Bronwyn ON 0:59.64
15 SERWA Kelsey BC (Kelowna) 0:59.77