Maja Wooley wins U16 GS at Sun Peaks, January 2017 – PHOTO by Hans Forssander
The Sun Peaks Racers hosted a 4-day U16 Teck Open event at Sun Peaks Resort from January 5th to 8th, 2017. Giant Slalom was on the agenda Thursday and Friday, followed by two days of Slalom on Saturday and Sunday.
In the first GS contest on the women's side it was Whistler Mountain Ski Club's Maja Woolley who came out on top in a two-run time of two minutes, 3.30 seconds. Close behind in the silver medal spot in 2:03.92 was Lauren Koper of the Black Dogs Ski Club, followed by Una Brudar, also of the WMSC in third with a combined time of 2:05.66. In the men's GS Nathan Romanin of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club finished the day in first place in 1:52.82 and was joined on the podium by Vernin Ski Club racer Gerrit Van Soest (1:55.03) in second and Heiko Ihns of the Red Mountain Racers in third (1:56.48). LADIES DAY 1 GS and MEN DAY 1 GS
The racers returned to the hill on day 2 for a second GS competition. In the women's race WMSC racer Gigi Kranjc won gold by a large margin in 2:00.29. Kranjc's teammate Maja Woolley followed up on her previous day's gold medal performance with a 2nd place finish in 2:02.81, and Black Dog's racer Lauren Koper returned to the podium in the bronze medal position with a combined time of 2:03.09. There were a couple of familiar faces in the top two podium spots on the men's side – Nathan Romanin (WMSC) was the victor again in 1:58.67 and Gerrit Van Soest (Vernon Ski Club) took silver again in 2:01.39. Climbing onto the podium in 3rd spot was Isaac Athans of the Apex Ski Club with a 2-run time of 2:01.46. LADIES DAY 2 GS and MEN DAY 2 GS
Saturday marked the first of two slalom races for both men and women. A new face climbed to the top of the podium; Charlize Street from the Fernie Alpine Ski Team clocked the fastest combined time of 1:42.40 for the win. Right behind in second place was Maja Woolley of the WMSC in 1:42.59, followed by Black Dog racer Lauren Koper in third in 1:43.12. When the men took to the slalom track it was U18 BC Ski Team member Alexander Valentin (WMSC) in top spot in 1:33.11. It was a close race for the top three U16 men; Heiko Ihns (Red Mountain Racers) finished 2nd overall with a time of 1:36.07, WMSC racer Kieran Harley came in 3rd overall with a time of 1:36.16 and Sun Peaks Alpine racer Beckett Hooton wrapped up the day in 4th position overall with a combined time of 1:36.67. LADIES DAY 3 SL and MEN DAY 3 SL
Sunday's slalom race showed that WMSC athlete Maja Woolley had no intention of stepping off the podium, winning both runs and earning another gold medal with a total time of 1:38.74. Woolley was joined on the podium by Ksenija Kaludjercic of Grouse Tyee in second (1:41.44) and Lauren Roper of the Black Dogs in third (1:41.85). In the final men's slalom Nathan Romanin of the WMSC secured his third win of the event, beating the competition in a two-run time of 1:33.25. Gerrit Van Soest (Vernon Ski Club) and Heiko Ihns (Red Mountain Racers) finished the weekend in 2nd (1:33.72) and 3rd (1:34.89) respectively. LADIES DAY 4 SL and MEN DAY 4 SL
FULL RESULTS HERE
Thank you to Christopher Naas for these awesome action shots from Saturday's slalom (top 3 men and women shown below).
Link for Men's SL Day 3 Run 1 https://flic.kr/s/aHskShcfZS
Link to Ladies' SL Day 3 Run 1 https://flic.kr/s/aHskSh712f
