Congratulations to the 2014 Teck Enquist Slalom overall winners, Ryan Moffat of the Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club and Maja Nymann of the Mt. Washington Ski Club. (Photo courtesy of Derek Trussler, Kelowna Ski Club FIS Coach)
TECK JUVENILE RACE SERIES
Enquist Slalom hosted by Mount Seymour Ski Club and Apex Ski Club at Apex Resort
February 1 - 2, 2014
The annual two-day Teck Enquist Slalom event for U16 men and women has been a tradition of the Mount Seymour Ski Club since 1936, and the 78th running of this popular race was moved to Apex Mountain this year due to snow conditions. This relocation resulted in a much stronger field of competitors with many of the provinces’ top contenders in attendance. In the spirit of cooperation and with the help of race organizers from both Seymour and Apex, a memorable and historic race series was attended by 86 elite juvenile ski racers from both the Coast Zone and the Okanagan. For the first time ever the Enquist Cup was won by a racer outside of the Coast Zone.
"I have never raced the Enquist before, so I didn't know what to expect," said overall cup winner Ryan Moffat of the Big White Racers. "In fact I hadn't finished a two-run slalom in two years, so I wasn't very confident in my slalom skiing. The course sets were great both days, nothing funky, and the conditions at Apex were almost perfect. It's pretty exciting to win the overall and bring the Enquist Cup to the Okanagan."
"It was a great little race, good snow and very fair for everyone," said Moffat's coach, Wade Christie of the Kelowna Ski Club. "Ryan has been skiing great all season. He’s physically much stronger this year and very motivated. So far our zone races have been a bit thin on numbers in U16, so our team was really excited to have a chance to race against the kids from the lower mainland. Ryan has the ability to raise his game to the level of the competition and he certainly did over the weekend. He’s also had the benefit of skiing with Simon Bernard, Trygg Nelson and Zane Torres. The four of them are pretty competitive and they push each other every day we train."
On the girls' side, the 2014 cup winner was Mt. Washington Ski Club racer Maja Nymann. In spite of all the weather challenges faced by Mt. Washington this season, the club has achieved some admirable results.
"It was a skill testing race with such tough competition, said Nymann. "But as always I had a great time and am honoured to have won such a prestigious award! It felt great to stand on top of the podium next to my friends and competitors, and I am looking forward to my next event."
"The Enquist race is always a highlight of the year for our club, and it was extra special having it in Apex with so many of the provinces’ top contenders in attendance," said John Trimmer, head coach of the Mt. Washington Ski Club. "It's been a tough year for us at home, but I am so proud of how hard our team has worked off and on snow - they deserve the results. We have only trained at home two weekends this season, but they were awesome weekends! A huge thank you has to go out to all our athletes, parents and past members who helped us harvest snow from the trees and put it on our training hill, and then transported the athletes’ skis so we could actually get a gate in the ground and train without destroying our race skis!"
Women overall podium
1st: Maja Renate Nymann, Mount Washington Ski Club
2nd: Ella Alfonso, Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club
3rd: Gabrielle Smith, Whistler Mountain Ski Club
Men overall podium
1st: Ryan Moffat, Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club
2nd: Zane Torres, Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club
3rd: Nick Mitro, Hemlock Ski Club
Moffat in action (Photo courtesy of Derek Trussler)
Here are the top-10 U16's, and the U18 finishers for Saturday and Sunday (a complete set of results can be found HERE)
Saturday, February 1 Slalom, Men, U16
1 MOFFAT, Ryan (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:13.16
2 TORRES, Zane (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:13.52
3 ILES, Finn (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:15.82
4 WOOLLEY, Kasper (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:16.41
5 KONIGSMANN, Peter (Cypress Ski Club) 1:17.81
6 NELSON, Trygg (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:21.38
7 KIRSHENBLATT, Max (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:21.44
8 RENZONI, Griffin (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:23.57
9 VALENTIN, Alexander (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:23.95
10 FILIPOVIC, Nikola (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:24.51
Saturday, February 1 Slalom, Ladies, U16
1 SWAFFIELD, Laura (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:20.61
2 NYMANN, Maja Renate (Mt Washington) 1:20.69
3 ALFONSO, Ella (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:20.79
4 SMITH, Gabrielle (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:21.64
5 NATALENKO, Kristina (Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club) 1:23.84
6 LUKINUK, Brooke (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:25.50
7 MACDONALD, Frances (Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club) 1:25.77
8 JONES, Madison (Mount Seymour Ski Club) 1:26.22
9 VOSS, Kelsey (Hemlock Ski Club) 1:26.39
10 SMALLWOOD, Jasmin (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:26.50
Saturday, February 1 Slalom, Men, U18
1 ANDERSON, Cole (Mt Washington) 1:13.92
2 MITRO, Nicholas (Hemlock Ski Club) 1:15.87
3 KWONG, Evan (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:16.09
4 VAN OS, Lucas (Mount Seymour Ski Club) 1:29.39
Saturday, February 1 Slalom, Ladies, U18
1 KIRBY, Olivia (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:21.67
2 MCWILLIAMS, Scout (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:23.86
3 DJORDJEVIC, Nela (Mount Seymour Ski Club) 1:30.85
Sunday, February 2 Slalom, Men, U16
1 MOFFAT, Ryan (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:17.05
2 HARLE, Kole (Mt Washington) 1:18.70
3 KIRSHENBLATT, Max (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:19.00
4 TORRES, Zane (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:19.17
5 JORDAN, Asher (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:19.76
6 ILES, Finn (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:20.23
7 HOWDEN, Reece (Apex Ski Club) 1:20.39
8 SMITH, Griffin (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:20.77
9 WOOLLEY, Kasper (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:21.71
10 ALEXANDER, Kyle (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:22.14
Sunday, February 2 Slalom, Ladies, U16
1 NYMANN, Maja Renate (Mt Washington) 1:26.44
2 ALFONSO, Ella (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:26.83
3 SMITH, Gabrielle (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:28.25
4 FLECKENSTEIN, Katie (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) 1:28.91
5 GRANT, Belle (Apex Ski Club) 1:29.93
6 BALDASSARE, Olivia (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:30.18
7 LUKINUK, Brooke (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:31.09
8 MACDONALD, Frances (Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club) 1:31.71
9 VOSS, Kelsey (Hemlock Ski Club) 1:32.13
10 KEAY, Charlotte (Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club) 1:32.31
Sunday, February 2 Slalom, Men, U18
1 MITRO, Nicholas (Hemlock Ski Club) 1:19.03
2 KWONG, Evan (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:19.69
3 WELLS, Keefer (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:21.30
4 VAN OS, Lucas (Mount Seymour Ski Club) 1:34.25
Sunday, February 2 Slalom, Ladies, U18
1 KIRBY, Olivia (Big White Racers/Kelowna Ski Club) 1:28.68
2 DJORDJEVIC, Nela (Mount Seymour Ski Club) 1:37.62
Thanks to Hans Forssander of the Mt. Seymour Ski Club for sharing these great photos!
