BANFF, Alta., Mathieu Leduc of Comox, B.C., 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 alpine skiing competition at Mount Norquay.
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 Fernie, B.C., 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.”
Yesterday's second place finisher, Cody Pedersen of Banff, AB and member of the Alberta Ski Team, stood second behind Leduc after the first run, but was unable to finish the second.
Racing continues Monday and Tuesday with giant slalom action again at Mt. Norquay. You can follow the action on live timing.
The series is the brain-child of Olympic champion Nancy Greene Raine, who approached GMC more than four decades ago with the concept of creating a strong domestic ski racing series for up-and-coming Canadian alpine racers.
GMC has a rich history as a benefactor to communities and to amateur support. Thus, the original series was launched, developing some of Canada’s best alpine racers including Kathy Kreiner, Gerry Sorensen, Laurie Graham, Karen Percy, and the Crazy Canucks.
Several current members of Canada’s Alpine Ski Team are also GMC Cup alumni including past GMC Cup overall winners Michael Janyk (Whistler, BC) (2004), Brigitte Acton (Mont-Tremblant, QC) (2002, 2003), Shona Rubens (Canmore, AB) (2005), Marie-Michèle Gagnon (Lac-Etchemin, QC) (2007) and Erin Mielzynski (Guelph, ON) (2008).
Manuel Osborne-Paradis (Vancouver, BC) and John Kucera (Calgary, AB) are two Canadian World Cup winners who are also alumni of the program.
Last season’s Coupe GMC Cup winners were Ashley-Kate Durham (Montreal, QC) and Benjamin Thomsen (Invermere, BC).
Be sure to also check out the Coupe GMC Cup website (www.gm.ca/cup) which features new Canadian Alpine Ski Team bios, videos from Erik Guay (Mont-Tremblant, QC), Janyk, Kucera and Osborne-Paradis as well as other exciting new features.
Competition continues through to Tuesday.
Sunday’s leading slalom results at a GMC Cup alpine skiing competition in Banff, Alta.
Men: 1. Mathieu Leduc, Comox, B.C., 1:39.73; 2. Geoffrey Massing, Edmonton, 1:43.74; 3. Jorge Martinic, Chile, 1:44.77; 4. Daniel Kwong, Whistler, B.C., 1:46.17; 5. Michael Law, Cochrane, Alta., 1:46.18; 6. William Konantz, West Vancouver, 1:46.30; 7. Spencer Morris, West Vancouver, 1:46.51; 8. Jeffrey Bell, Calgary, 1:47.28; 9. Filip Gigic, Calgary, 1:47.84; 10. Sean Vaugeois, Calgary, 1:48.01.
Women: 1. Tianda Carroll, Edmonton, 1:47.08; 2. Noelle Barahona, Chile, 1:47.98; 3. Celine Rytz, Fernie, B.C., 1:48.21; 4. Jocelyn Ramsden, Whistler, B.C., 1:49.77; 5. Victoria Michalik, Banff, Alta., 1:50.60; 6. Kaitlyn Gibson, Calgary, 1:50.96; 7. Catherine Wood, Calgary, 1:51.10; 8. Chelsea Adam, Nanaimo, B.C., 1:54.26; 9. Alexandra Stevens, Edmonton, 1:54.35; 10. Vanessa Alboiu, Kananaskis, Alta., 1:54.36.
INFORMATION:
Janice Avon
Coupe GMC Cup
(604) 318-1081
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