MEDIA PHOTOS: high res team, action, individual bio and lifestyle images are available for download at: http://bcalpine.com/bcst
“Lean, mean, fighting machine” ready to tackle the 2014 season; which starts this weekend in Colorado
VANCOUVER, B.C. (Thursday, November 21, 2013) – BC Alpine announced Thursday a group of 9 athletes that will represent B.C. this season on the regional, Nor-Am and international circuits.
“This is a quality group of athletes,” said head coach Johnny Crichton, in his first season at the helm of the BC Ski Team. “The athletes are very professional and are eager to improve. I am very happy with the maturity they have showed in regards to a completely new program that we implemented.”
The team’s preparation period – between April and October – consisted of 44 days on snow, combined with a “very well rounded and strict dryland program,” delivered and lead by Andrew Lambert, the BC Alpine Sports Science Director.
The men’s and women’s teams worked as a single unit, with a focused and integrated staff.
“The time commitment was huge but that is what it takes to make the necessary gains in order to compete and excel at this level,” Crichton said. “We strengthened our skills on snow, our bodies, our minds and learned more about better fuel and food as well as how to maintain our health through the season. I’d say it was a very successful prep period and we are ready to race.”
Men’s team: Eye on Nor-Am hardware
According to men’s coach Nick Cooper expectations are high with the team. “All of these guys are returning members to the BC Ski Team and have really started to show that they are mature athletes,” said Cooper, a former coach of Alpine Canada as well as the Fernie Alpine Ski Team and Whistler Mountain Ski Club. “This group has all experienced success in their young careers and they are hungry to build on their achievements.”
“The level of professionalism this group puts into all aspects of their training has made it a pleasure to work with them over the past six months,” Cooper said. “They have raised their game from an already exceptionally high level to something that resembles athletes much senior. How this will translate into results is still hard to define but I am excited to find out!”
Cooper suggested the goals for the team, led by fourth-year member Broderick Thompson, are top results on the Nor-Am tour, as well as individual qualifications for World Junior Championships in February 2014. The men’s team has departed for Colorado, where they will spend the next three weeks racing on the Nor-Am and FIS circuits. “We have prepared well, the guys are skiing well, they're fit, healthy and most of the time happy, so continuing to maintain these aspect will be our main focus.”
The women’s team of Alix Wells, Charley Field and Emma King, continue to make steady progress on-snow, according to women’s coach JP Daigneault. “They are all pushing beyond their comfort zone and redefining what their limits are out there in the race course,” Daigneault said.
“Being on-snow with the men’s team on the same schedule, in the same training environment, and timing against them, has opened their eyes to what is possible on skis. The men’s team is slightly older, more experienced, and the guys are physically stronger. Having the guys training in the same course can be intimidating at times for the women’s team, but I have no doubt that it has also caused the women to expect more of themselves.”
Goals for the women’s team range from World Junior qualification to rebounding from injuries. Alix Wells, from Prince George, re-joined the team last spring and is healthy after two seasons dominated by leg injuries.
Women:
Charley Field, Whistler Mountain Ski Club (Pemberton)
Emma King, Whistler Mountain Ski Club (Whistler)
Alix Wells, Prince George Ski Club (Prince George)
Men:
Broderick Thompson, Whistler Mountain Ski Club (Whistler)
Brodie Seger, Whistler Mountain Ski Club (North Vancouver)
Martin Grasic, Windermere Valley Ski Club (Invermere)
Dominic Unterberger, Revelstoke Ski Club (Revelstoke)
Patrick Carry, Fernie Alpine Ski Team (Fernie)
Blake Ramsden, Whistler Mountain Ski Club (West Vancouver)
* Tyler Werry, Fernie Alpine Ski Team (Invitee: Canadian Alpine Ski Team)
Coaches:
Head Coach: Johnny Crichton (Kamloops)
Men’s Coach: Nick Cooper (Whistler)
Women’s Coach: JP Daigneault (Whistler)
Sports Science Director: Andrew Lambert (Vernon)
Photos and bios available at: http://bcalpine.com/bcst
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For More Information Contact:
Gordie Bowles, Athletic Director
604-678-3072 gordieb@bcalpine.com
Kathy Stahr, Communications
604-678-3071 kathys@bcalpine.com
