LACHLAN HICKS CAPTURES OVERALL TITLE AT THE K1 WESTERN CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS AT RMR

Posted on Feb. 10th, 2009 by Katie Findlay

The Revelstoke Ski Club hosted its largest event to date last weekend: the K1 (11 and 12 years old) Western Canadian Championships. A huge success, the event brought over 150 of the top young alpine racers in Western Canada – from as far as Winnipeg – to Revelstoke Mountain Resort last Friday, Saturday and Sunday for some very competitive racing.

Under bluebird skies on Friday, the Giant Slalom was held on the Wooley Bully run. Winning the two-run combined event on the girls’ side was Emily McNeill from Lake Louise, followed by Kelly Steeves of Whistler and Stephanie Gartner of Fernie. Revelstoke’s girls fared quite well: Emily Unterberger finished 28th, Sonia Schwenck 42nd, Gina Cinelli 64th and Hannah Yauck 66th.

Sitting in fourth place for the boys after his first run, Revelstoke’s Lachlan Hicks was determined to finish the day on the podium. Coming out strong in the second run, Hicks clipped a gate early and spun out of the course, but continued on with only one pole to finish tenth place combined. Taking the podium on Friday were Mike Gillespie of Banff, Zachary Belczyk from Sunshine and Dalton Pehota from Whistler.

From the Revelstoke Ski Club, Max Scharf and Mitch Smith (both from Salmon Arm) continued their well-known rivalry: Max slightly ahead on the first run and Mitch on the second. In the end, Max took 38th place – only .09 of a second ahead of Mitch in 39th. Landon Yauck finished 55th and Rydr Strobl 60th.

Saturday’s Slalom race brought Hicks the medal he’d been itching for the day before, finishing in a tie for second. “I was feeling really good after my first run, sitting in third,” Hicks explained. “I knew I had to put in a fast but clean run for my second run to stay on the podium and I did! Slalom isn’t usually my best event but I felt I had good rhythm today.” The top B.C. athlete of the day, Hicks shared the podium with Michael Soetaert of Snow Valley and Keegan Sharp of Panorama. Mitch Smith placed 38th, Landon Yauck 43rd, Rydr Strobl 51st and Max Scharf 52nd.

Standing on the girls’ podium after the slalom race were Hilary Shirra from Sunshine, Emily McNeill of Lake Louise and Rachel Vander Veen from Whistler. Revelstoke’s Gina Cinelli finished 40th and Hannah Yauck was 41st. Though she hooked a gate and had to hike on her first run, Sonia Schwenck skied a strong second run and placed 43rd.

Some fresh snow Sunday morning created a little extra work to begin the Kombi race, but the Revelstoke Ski Club’s Race Organizing Committee and volunteers handled it with ease and the day’s race ran smoothly. A hybrid event including both Giant Slalom and Slalom turn sizes, and both regular and “stubby” gates, the Kombi highlights young racers’ agility and adaptability.

Lachlan Hicks demonstrated great athleticism and won gold in the one-run race, finishing over three tenths of a second ahead of silver medalist Dalton Pehota from Whistler, and almost eight tenths of a second in front of third place Brennen Halliwell from Edmonton. The win secured for Hicks the title of overall champion for Western Canadian K1s. “It was a great weekend,” Hicks said. “I skied fast but clean on almost all of my runs. I was really happy with my end result. My results got better as the weekend went on and it was really awesome finishing as the overall champion on my home hill.”

The Revelstoke Ski Club’s Salmon Arm boys were close as usual: Max Scharf placed 53rd, Mitch Smith 55th and Rydr Strobl 66th.

On the girls’ side, Stephanie Gartner of Fernie won gold, and Whistler’s Rachel Vander Veen and Kelly Steeves took silver and bronze medals, respectively. Revelstoke’s Emily Unterberger finished 42nd, Sonia Schwenck 47th, Gina Cinelli 60th and Hannah Yauck 65th.

Though team B.C. took five of six medals on Sunday, and many others throughout the weekend, team Alberta fared slightly better overall and won the provincial cup.

A fantastic weekend at home for the Revelstoke Ski Club kicks off a very busy month of March: the K2 provincials are coming up at Red Mountain, as well as the K1 provincials at Big White, FIS races at Kimberley and the K2 Western Canadian Finals at Jasper.

For more information please visit www.revelstokeskiclub.info, and watch the Revelstoke Times Review for more ski club updates!

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