BANFF, Alta., Mathieu Leduc of the Mount Washington Ski Club and Tianda Carroll of Edmonton won the men’s and women’s slalom respectively for the second straight day on Sunday at the GMC Cup competition at Mount Norquay, Alberta.
In the women’s slalom, Carroll notched her second win in a row clocking 1:47.08 over two runs. Noelle Barahona of Chile was second in 1:47.98 and Celine Rytz of the BC Ski Team and the Fernie Alpine Ski Team was third for the second straight day clocking 1:48.21.
“I felt my racing was better today,” said Carroll, 16, with top-10 showings in her last eight races including four wins. “I like the pitch a lot on this course and I found it easy to get into a rhythm. But the key for me is to stay calm at the start and focus on what I have to do.”
Rytz, 17, from the BC Alpine Ski Team has also been solid in 2010 with top-three finishes in seven of her last eight races.
“I’m a little disappointed I wasn’t able to get the gold,” said Rytz. “I really need to work on being more aggressive on the flats because I just cruise along. But it’s exciting to be getting a few podium appearances of late.”
In the men’s slalom, Leduc took the gold decisively in 1:39.73 with Geoffrey Massing of Edmonton second in 1:43.74 and Jorge Martinic of Chile third in 1:44.77.
“I was a lot calmer on my second run today,” said Leduc, 20, with six top-five finishes in his last six races. “I figured I already have a gold medal here so I might as well just go for it and it worked out. I’ve done a lot more training this season and now it’s starting to show with these results.”
Massing hadn’t completed his first run in his previous two races including Saturday’s slalom.
“It was a beautiful day, great conditions and I made the best of it,” said Massing, 22, fourth after the opening run. “I feel things starting to come around for me but there’s still a lot of work to do.”
Competition continues through to Tuesday.
Sunday, February 7 Slalom, Men
1 LEDUC, Mathieu (Mt Washington) 1:39.73
2 MASSING, Geoffrey (Sunshine) 1:43.74
3 MARTINIC, Jorge (U.Catolica) 1:44.77
4 KWONG, Daniel (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:46.17
5 LAW, Michael (Banff) 1:46.18
6 KONANTZ, William (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:46.30
7 MORRIS, Spencer (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:46.51
8 BELL, Jeffrey (Carc) 1:47.28
9 GIGIC, Filip (Natc) 1:47.84
10 VAUGEOIS, Sean (Sunshine) 1:48.01
Men’s J1 Podium
1 KWONG Daniel 1993
2 LAW Michael 1993
3 KONANTZ William 1993
4 MORRIS Spencer 1993
5 BELL Jeffrey 1993
Sunday, February 7 Slalom, Ladies
1 CARROLL, Tianda (Easa) 1:47.08
2 BARAHONA, Noelle (La Parva) 1:47.98
3 RYTZ, Celine (Fernie Alpine Ski Team) 1:48.21
4 RAMSDEN, Jocelyn (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:49.77
5 MICHALIK, Victoria (Banff) 1:50.60
6 GIBSON, Kaitlyn (Fast) 1:50.96
7 WOOD, Catherine (Banff) 1:51.10
8 ADAM, Chelsea (Mt Washington) 1:54.26
9 STEVENS, Alexandra (Easa) 1:54.35
10 ALBOIU, Vanessa (Natc) 1:54.36
Women’s J1 Podium
1 CARROLL Tianda 1993
2 RAMSDEN Jocelyn 1993
3 MICHALIK Victoria 1993
4 GIBSON Kaitlyn 1993
5 ADAM Chelsea 1993