WHISTLER, B.C. (April 5, 2013) — Canada enjoyed a stellar start to the three-day Whistler Cup on Friday, sweeping the U16 men’s super-G podium and winning silver and bronze in ladies’ U16 super-G in Whistler, B.C.
Jack Crawford, from Toronto, who trains out of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club., battled damp, foggy race conditions en route to gold in the men’s category at the Whistler Cup, presented by Rio Tinto Alcan, while Riley Seger of North Vancouver and the Whistler Mountain Ski Club took silver, and Vancouver’s Sam Mulligan of the Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club earned bronze.
“It’s great. This is what I’ve been working towards most of the year,” said Crawford, 15, who posted a time of one minute, 1.52 seconds. “The run started off slow out of the start gate, and I felt like it was going very poorly, but coming onto the pitch it got a lot faster and from there it felt good all the way down.”
Winning on his club’s home hill was especially sweet for Crawford, who skis with the Whistler Mountain Ski Club.
“It’s exciting. It feels good,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of training on the hill, so I really knew what was coming at me.”
Seger, also of Whistler Mountain Ski Club, finished just six-hundredths of a second behind Crawford to take silver (1:01.58) after posting the fastest second-interval time of the day.
“It felt pretty good. I was the first racer on course, so you’re not really sure what’s coming at you and you can’t get a course report from anyone, but it went really well,” said Seger, 15, who was named to Team Canada for this year’s Whistler Cup. “It was little tough to see at the bottom, but other than that I felt like it was good.
“I’d like to congratulate all my teammates and thank all the volunteers for their hard work,” he added.
Sixteen-year-old Mulligan, who is also racing with Team Canada at the Whistler Cup, was third (1:02.26) after a near fall on the bottom half of the course.
“It was really fun. The course was a lot easier than I thought it would be, so I ended up going really fast, which is always good,” said Mulligan, who skis with the Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club. “Down near the bottom I ended up getting a lot of air going around a gate, and I almost crashed, but I kept it together and I was happy with my result.”
In the ladies’ super-G – which was delayed intermittently for several hours due to rolling fog – Stephanie Currie of Toronto, Ont., earned silver as the top-placing Canadian (1:05:03).
“My run was pretty good. It was snowing a bit up top, but the visibility was decent,” said Currie, who skis with the Osler Bluff Ski Club and who was named to Team Canada for this event. “When I got down to the bottom it was a bit misty, but I had a nice line.
“Even though it’s been bad weather, the race crew has done a fantastic job of keeping the course just the way we like it.”
Haley McKercher of Calgary, Alta., was third. The Sunshine Ski Club racer, 16, finished in 1:05.24.
Norway’s Kajsa Lie Vickhoff was the ladies’ super-G winner (1:04.06).
“It was really good. I had a nice start,” Vickhoff said. “I’ve always dreamed about (a win) at the Whistler Cup.”
Five other Canadian men and six additional women placed in the top 10, giving Canada 16 top-10 finishes out of a possible 20.
Nigel Cooper, Alpine Canada’s manager of athlete development, was pleased with the Canadian contingent’s results.
“As a nation, Canada did pretty good,” he said. “This track is a big boys’ and girls’ track, so I think that familiarity with the track is really important. It’s tough for some of these kids who have only had a few runs on it to gain that familiarity. Certainly we would have liked 100 more runs on the track, but we’re satisfied with today given the experience we’ve had here.
“We have to push a little harder over the next few days to win the Whistler Cup … we’re on the way, but we want to win more,” Cooper added of Canada’s goal to win the overall Nations’ Cup at the Whistler event.
U14 racers also took to the slopes Friday to compete in the Kinder Kombi, which was a race that featured turns and skills from multiple racing disciplines. In the ladies’ race, Canada’s Brianna MacDonald, who skis with the Osler Bluff Ski Club, took gold (42.07), while Japan’s Chelsea Kumono claimed silver (42.57) and Saya Ohkoshi, also of Japan, earned bronze (42.82).
In the men’s U14 race, Whistler Mountain Ski Club’s Kasper Woolley and Finn Iles were first (41.88) and second (42.39), respectively, and Hunter Watson, who skis with the Camp Fortune Ski Club, was third. (43.13).
The Whistler Cup, presented by Rio Tinto Alcan, continues on Saturday with men’s giant slalom and ladies’ slalom. The final day of competition is Sunday, which features men’s slalom and ladies’ giant slalom.
APRIL 5, 2013 – WHISTLER, B.C. – WHISTLER CUP – U16 MEN’S SUPER-G
COMPLETE RESULTS
APRIL 5, 2013 – WHISTLER, B.C. – WHISTLER CUP – U16 LADIES’ SUPER-G
COMPLETE RESULTS
APRIL 5, 2013 – WHISTLER, B.C. – WHISTLER CUP – U14 MEN’S KINDER KOMBI
COMPLETE RESULTS
APRIL 5, 2013 – WHISTLER, B.C. – WHISTLER CUP – U14 LADIES’ KINDER KOMBI
COMPLETE RESULTS
To view an event schedule and for more information about the Whistler Cup, presented by Rio Tinto Alcan, go to www.whistlercup.com
VIDEO: Shaw TV video coverage of the Whistler Cup is available online: http://www.whistlercup.com/en/video/SitePages/Home.aspx
LIVE TIMING: Follow the Whistler Cup via live timing, at http://www.live-timing.com/index.php
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