Competing against athletes from 17 countries, Katrina Voss of Port Moody, who races for the Hemlock Ski Team as a junior U16 racer, had her best finish at Whistler Cup by placing 31st out of 76 racers in the Sunday, April 5 two-run U16 Slalom race. Now in its 23rd year, Whistler Cup has become the largest and most important kids’ international ski race in North America for the world’s best 12 to 15-year-old ski racers.
Whistler Cup has a history of showcasing future stars, including Americans Lindsey Vonn, Julia Mancuso and Mikaela Shiffrin, as well as Slovenia’s Tina Maze, Italy’s Christof Innerhofer and Austria’s Nicole Hosp, Anna Fenninger and Mathias Meier. Many of Canada’s biggest stars have also competed at the event over the years, including Marielle Thompson, Kelsey Serwa, Jan Hudec, Erik Guay, Robbie Dixon, Britt and Michael Janyk and Manuel Osborne-Paradis.
Voss participated in three races at Whistler Cup. The first race was Super G which is a speed event. Voss started in 68th position and moved up 15 places to place 53rd out of 76 racers with a top speed of 57 km/hr. The second race was Giant Slalom where she had a solid race by placing 45th after moving up 22 spots from her starting position of 67.
However, it was the Slalom event where Voss kicked on the afterburner starting in position 68 and moving all the way up to 37th spot with her first run.
“But she was not done yet as she laid down the 28th fastest 2nd run time of all racers to finish the race in 31st place, up an amazing 37 places higher than her start position” stated Head Coach Kelly Blair. “This was a great day for Katrina and the Hemlock Ski Club!”
The Hemlock Ski Club provides ski racing opportunities for kids from 4 and up. For more information about the Hemlock Ski Club and its ski racing program, please visit the ski club website at www.hemlockskiclub.com.
