Hemlock Ski Team members returned home with a silver medal after two days of competition in U16 and U18 levels at the 77th running of Mount Seymour Ski Club’s Enquist Ski Race this past weekend. Nick Mitro of Surrey won a silver medal in a challenging two run 60+ gate slalom race on Saturday while competing in his first U18 / FIS level race.
Accompanying Nick on the Hemlock team were Connor Liljedahl of Port Moody and Kelsey Voss of Port Moody, both of whom ran clean races and showed steady improvement. Connor placed 23rd out of 35 racers in the Saturday race and 22nd out of 40 racers in the Sunday race, while Kelsey placed 17th out of 38 racers in the Saturday race and 16th out of 40 racers in the Sunday race.
James Crawford (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) and Antonia Wearmouth (Grouse Tyee Ski Club) were the individual recipients of the Enquist Slalom Trophies at Mt. Seymour.
The previous week netted awards for the skiers as well.
The Hemlock Ski Club hosted a ski race for BC Alpine’s Coast Zone that included giant slalom, slalom and ski cross events. The race was scheduled as a Test Event for the 2014 BC Winter Games that will be held here next year. The Hemlock Ski Team posted strong results, with two medals and one ribbon being won by team members. Megan Kardoes of Abbotsford, BC and Jason Forster of Coquitlam, BC each won a medal for most improved skier while racing against elite skiers from southwestern BC. Megan won her medal in Giant Slalom (GS) where she finished in 14th place after being seeded 35th, while Jason won his medal in the 2nd Slalom race where he finished in 26th place out of a field of 53 boys.
Katrina Voss had the best finish for the team when she placed 8th out of 39 skiers in the ladies Giant Slalom race and received a ribbon for her speedy effort. Accompanying Megan, Jason and Katrina on the U14 Hemlock Ski Team this past weekend was Lena Liljedahl of Port Moody, whose best placing was 15th in the ladies Ski Cross course.
“We are frequently told by other BC ski clubs that Hemlock has one of the best U14 GS courses in the Province,” stated Peter Liljedahl, President of the Hemlock Ski Club. “Although our ski club is small when compared to those from Metro Vancouver and Whistler, we love putting on a great race weekend for all the athletes”. Liljedahl also thanked the gracious sponsorship of Teck to the junior alpine ski racing program in BC and the generous support of Hemlock Resort. “The support that Hemlock Resort has provided Hemlock Ski Club to get ready for this BC Winter Games Test Event, including building a brand new ski cross course next to the terrain park, has been simply outstanding,” stated Liljedahl. The ski cross course will be open to the public for the remainder of the season.
Bruce Goldsmid, CEO of BC Alpine Ski Associated stated “I would like to congratulate the Hemlock Valley Ski Club for their fantastic effort and race this past weekend. Four of our BC Alpine staff attended the event and all the feedback I received was nothing short of fantastic. I am confident the 2014 BC Winter Games is in good hands. Well done!”
Mollie Jepson of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club won the Ladies GS race, Kyle Alexander of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club won the Men’s GS race, Kristina Natalenko of Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club won both the 1st and 2nd Ladies Slalom races while Kasper Woolley of Whistler Mountain Ski Club won both the 1st and 2nd Men’s Slalom races. For ski cross, Kristina Natalenko of Grouse Tyee Ski Club and Katie Fleckenstein of Whistler Mountain Ski Club won the Ladies pair event while Finn Iles and Kasper Woolley of Whistler Mountain Ski Club won the Men’s pair event.
For more information about the Hemlock Ski Club and its ski racing program, please visit the ski club website at www.hemlockskiclub.com.