Whistler (BC), Canada – Canada won its fourth Nations’ Cup in five years as the host nation closed out the Whistler Cup series of junior ski races with another golden performance on Sunday.nRoni Remme, of Collingwood, Ontario, followed up her second-place result in Friday’s K2 super G by winning Sunday’s K2 women’s slalom. The 15-year-old’s victory was one of the highlights of the day for Canada at the world-renowned event for elite young ski racers. In its 19th year, the Whistler Cup features 450 skiers aged 11 to 15 from a total of 25 countries.
The U.S. was the top nation in the K2 age category but Canada led the way in K1 and took the overall Nations’ Cup title with 306 points. Team USA was second with 212 points and Japan was third (164).
“It was fantastic, super, a great job,” said Benoit Lalande, team leader for Team Canada’s K2 squad. “At that age they are put under pressure and they have to perform in an international race. At 14 years old that’s very impressive.”
Remme had one last chance to go for gold on Sunday – and she didn’t disappoint.
“I’ve been working for this all season,” said Remme, who clocked a two-run combined time of one minute, 22.26 seconds. “It feels really great. I’m so happy I got what I’ve been working for.”
Remme put time into her course inspection and all the pre-race planning paid off.
“Going into the first run I was looking at the course and trying to figure out where to look for speed,” said Remme, a member of Collingwood’s National Ski Academy. “I was really happy with my first run so going into my second run, I knew I had to have a clean run. I think I got what I was looking for.”
The Austrian duo of Marie-Therese Sporer (1:23.16) and Theres Steinlechner (1:25.23) were second and third, respectively.
Ryan Mooney was delighted that his win in Sunday’s giant slalom helped make the USA the leading nation in the K2 age category.
“It’s really important to us,” said the 15-year-old from western Massachusetts, who took the GS title with a two-run combined time of 1:45.08. “We’re stacked this year – really deep. It’s awesome.”
Mooney had the second-fastest first run (52.79) and reacted better than anyone else to the snowy conditions in the second run.
“I was very happy with how it went. It was awesome,” he said. “First run it was a great set, there wasn’t too much snow. The second run, the snow really rolled in. It was a little bumpy.”
The top Canadian in Sunday’s K2 giant slalom was Lambert Quézel, of Montreal, Quebec, who won Saturday’s K2 slalom.
“On the first run, I was aggressive. It was very good,” said Quézel, who was fifth with a two-run combined time of 1:46.45. “But on my second run I was too safe. I’m not happy but I’m not that mad, either.”
Austria’s Marco Ladner was second (1:45.11) and the USA’s Colby Lane was third (1:45.95).
Soleil Patterson brightened up Canada’s day on Sunday with a third-place finish in the K1 women’s slalom. The 12-year-old from Rossland, British Columbia, laid down two solid runs to finish with a two-run combined time of 1:12.90.
“It was really nice. It was snowy but I had a good run,” she said. “Everything went well. I got a bit late on some gates but it was OK. It’s been an amazing week. With all this excitement, it’s been fun.”
Canadians Ella Alfonso and Laura Swaffield were fourth and fifth, respectively. The slalom was won by Japan’s Asami Katagiri, who also won gold in Saturday’s giant slalom. Katagiri clocked a combined time of 1:11.39 Sunday and Sona Moravcikova, of Slovakia, was second with a time of 1:12.73.
Canada’s Ryan Moffat produced another solid performance in Sunday’s K1 giant slalom, but was disappointed to finish just out of the podium positions. The 12-year-old from Kelowna, British Columbia, was the top Canadian on the day, finishing fifth with a time of 57.51 in the one-run event.
“My run felt really good but it wasn’t enough,” said Moffat. “I’m still happy. It’s been really cool here.”
The winner of Sunday’s giant slalom was Chile’s Kai Horwitz, who clocked a time of 56.43.
“It was good – really good,” said Horwitz.
Tomas Varjassi, of Slovakia, was second (56.67) and Denmark’s Peter Moe-Lange was third (56.97).