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Red Mountain Racers: Andison claims B.C. title

Red Mountain Racer Jane Andison was crowned BC U14 Girls champion in Vernon last week.

Red Mountain Racer Jane Andison was crowned BC U14 Girls champion in Vernon last week.

Andison raced to second and third place finishes in two separate Giant Slalom races at Silver Star resort and followed that up with a first and fourth place in the slalom races, enough points to clinch the BC U14 overall championship.

Andison also showed that she could ski with the world’s best at the Whistler Cup with a fourth place in the Kinder Kombi this past weekend.

“It’s doesn’t feel different than other races,” says Andison, 14 in a release.  “I wasn’t really nervous.  The difference is that, here [at Whistler], there are 120 girls, when there are usually not that many.  I just do what I’m supposed to do and hope for the best.”

Andison dominated U14 events this season, topping it off with the B.C. title and a good showing in Whistler.

Andison’s mom, Christine went further,  “What I think is cool about this event is that Jane could come to me and say, ‘mom, I made some new skiing friends’ and these friends happen to be from Japan.  It really creates a sense of community and common understanding for these young kids.”

Daniel Larriau Altadill from Spain also had top 10 finishes at both the B.C. and Whistler Cups.

Altadill skis with the Red Mountain Racers through Red Mountain Academy. He finished fifth in Saturday’s U14 Slalom in Whistler, after finishing sixth at the provincials the weekend earlier.

RMR’s Soleil Patterson skiing for Team BC also shone on the slopes.  While she didn’t crack the top ten, Patterson showed her  vast potential, skiing with confidence  while racing girls who are sometimes two years older.

Patterson’s top result at the Whistler Cup was 17th in the slalom and 19th in the Super-G.

Other strong performances came from Liene Groeger 21st in GS, Gavin Patterson 25th in Slalom, Isaac Lunn 36th in Slalom, Kaysa Panke, 34th Kinder Kombi, and Sophia Rodyakin 49th in Slalom.

Meanwhile, four podium finishes on the final day of competition earned Team Canada the coveted U16 Whistler Cup title on Sunday.

The Canadian team – comprised of three U16 boys and three U16 girls – was crowned the top overall team with 267 points at the three-day event in Whistler, one of the largest international junior ski races for the world’s best up-and-coming young racers.

Norway finished second with 178 points, and Japan placed third with 127.

Canada won the Whistler Cup, presented by Rio Tinto Alcan, four out of five years prior to 2012 but lost the title to Switzerland last year, so reclaiming top honours was particularly sweet for a determined team skiing in front of a home crowd.

“I’m really excited,” said Nigel Cooper, Alpine Canada’s manager of athlete development.

“I think the Japanese, the Italians, and the Norwegians represent a good part of some of the best skiing nations in the world. Overall the field through to the top 10 is pretty strong, so I think that our top three girls and boys on Team Canada really strutted their stuff.”

Amelia Smart, 15, of Invermere, was presented with the Nancy Greene Award, which is given to the top overall Canadian girl who accumulated the most points over three days, while the Dave Murray Award for the top Canadian boy went to Jack Crawford, 15, of Toronto.