Friday saw another textbook day of giant slalom racing at the Red Mountain Mars BC Cup event. Temperatures were somewhat colder and the course was slightly rougher, but an ardent group of volunteers and coaches made sure everything was safe and ready for the 190 FIS athletes who couldn’t wait to blast out of the start and try to improve on yesterday’s results.
It would be three J1 girls who would lead the pack Friday and stand on both the J1 and the overall podiums. Alexa Birdgeneau of Alberta’s National Alpine Training Centre took the gold with a total time of one minute, 47.02 seconds followed very closely by Tatum Monod of the Banff Alpine Racers who came in just 5 hundredths behind in 1:47.07.
BC Team training group athlete Victoria Whitney of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club captured the bronze in 1:47.13. As was the case in the men’s competition yesterday, today’s women’s race was extremely tight for the top-3!
Whistler Mountain Ski Club’s James McLean was the fastest Canadian down the men’s track today, stopping the clock after two solid runs at 1:46.78 and walking away with a bronze medal. McLean was outrun by American’s Bobby Poehling and Rett Smith who finished first and second in 1:45.48 and 1:46.20 respectively.
After an exciting day Thursday, finishing 2nd overall and 1st among J1’s, local hero Sasha Zaitsoff of the Red Mountain Racers stepped onto the third J1 podium step Friday with a two-run time of 1:47.65 – good for 7th place overall.
Men’s and Women’s slalom is on the schedule for Saturday and Sunday (that means lots of time for parents to enjoy the 
LIVE TIMING!)
Top-15 Women’s Giant Slalom (Unofficial)
1 (1) BIRDGENEAU, Alexa CAN J1 54.29 (2) 52.73 (7) 1:47.02
2 (20) MONOD, Tatum CAN J1 55.40 (11) 51.67 (1) 1:47.07
3 (15) WHITNEY, Victoria CAN J1 55.01 (6) 52.12 (2) 1:47.13
4 (6) MURRAY, Julia CAN J2 54.94 (5) 52.47 (4) 1:47.41
5 (13) DELANEY, Kara CAN J2 55.24 (8) 52.85 (8) 1:48.09
6 (4) WILLIS, Alecia CAN J1 54.58 (3) 53.87 (19) 1:48.45
6 (22) RAMSDEN, Calindy CAN J1 55.85 (13) 52.60 (6) 1:48.45
8 (7) MCKERCHER, Gillian CAN J1 54.79 (4) 53.84 (18) 1:48.63
9 (14) ROSEN, Samantha CAN J2 55.19 (7) 53.46 (11) 1:48.65
10 (3) MORAN, Terra CAN J1 55.28 (9) 53.52 (13) 1:48.80
11 (10) HALE, Marni USA J2 56.69 (16) 52.20 (3) 1:48.89
12 (12) MARSHALL, Sarah CAN J2 56.93 (19) 52.58 (5) 1:49.51
13 (8) MAH, Jennifer CAN J2 55.67 (12) 53.97 (21) 1:49.64
14 (33) FLOYD, Sarah CAN J1 56.87 (17) 53.26 (9) 1:50.13
15 (28) PETERS, Julia CAN J2 56.67 (15) 53.56 (14) 1:50.23
Top-15 Men’s Giant Slalom (Unofficial)
1 (4) POEHLING, Bobby USA SR 52.31 (1) 53.17 (1) 1:45.48
2 (6) SMITH, Rett USA J2 52.77 (3) 53.43 (4) 1:46.20
3 (8) MCLEAN, James CAN J2 53.08 (5) 53.70 (6) 1:46.78
4 (5) HERR, J Ross USA J2 53.62 (7) 53.35 (3) 1:46.97
5 (7) TIMMONS, Curtis CAN J1 53.75 (8) 53.72 (8) 1:47.47
6 (12) GREGORAK, Will USA J1 52.90 (4) 54.61 (18) 1:47.51
7 (13) ZAITSOFF, Sasha CAN J1 53.93 (9) 53.72 (8) 1:47.65
8 (32) MACLEAN, Benjamin CAN J1 54.67 (16) 53.30 (2) 1:47.97
9 (15) PRIDY, Morgan CAN J1 54.01 (10) 54.07 (11) 1:48.08
10 (3) CONNER, Christian CAN J2 53.56 (6) 54.59 (16) 1:48.15
11 (19) MOORE, Evan CAN J2 54.83 (18) 53.70 (6) 1:48.53
12 (2) PHILP, Jamie CAN J1 54.61 (15) 54.03 (10) 1:48.64
13 (20) SHAMPENY, Kristopher USA SR 54.41 (13) 54.72 (19) 1:49.13
14 (11) THACKRAY, Taylor CAN J2 54.80 (17) 54.36 (14) 1:49.16
15 (16) LEWIS, Drew USA J2 54.48 (14) 55.04 (21) 1:49.52