Home hill advantage may have helped Fort dominate at Murray Ridge last week, and dominate they did.
During the North Zone High School Ski and Snowboard Championships Feb. 7-8, the girls snowboard and ski teams both finished first in team events.
High school snowboarders competed at Murray Ridge in Fort St. James on the Thursday, and skiers raced Friday, with Fort leading the pack both days.
Gabriela Willick took first place individually among the girl skiers, and Liam Willick placed a close second among the boy skiers – only a fraction of a second behind first place.
The girl ski team secured first place among teams with five racers in the top 10, two in the top three.
Right behind Gabriela WIllick was Kaitlan Goodwin in second, Ashley Woodley placed eighth, Mackenzie Moeller was ninth and Quintanna Paziuk was 10th. There were 23 girl skiers in total.
Liam Willick was the only boy skier to place in the top 10 out of a field of 48, but Max Boschman was just edged over the line into 11th place with 44.36 seconds for his two runs, with less than half a second separating him from 10th spot.
Female snowboarders from Fort St. James also did well, with four competitors in the top 10.
Sara King from Fort St. James was second overall out of 22 competitors, Brooke Dunkley was sixth, Mackenzie Moeller was seventh and Kaylee Walstrom was 10th.
The top six girl skiers, the entire girl snowboard team and Liam Willick and Max Boschman will next be heading to provincial championships in Smithers, set for March 4-6.
Last year’s girl snowboard team also made it to provincials, the team placing third in the province.
The team ranking depends on the top four times from each team.
Top individual Results for skiers (boarder results published in last week’s Courier)
Girl Skiers:
First – Gabriela Willick from FSJSS 43.65 sec.
Second – Kaitlan Goodwin from FSJSS 44.13 sec.
Third – Erica Haugland from Duchess Park 45.26 sec.
Boys Skiers:
First – Jason Oliemans from Smithers Secondary School 40.31 sec.
Second – Liam Willick from FSJSS 40.78
Third – Chris McGauley from College Heights 42.07 sec.
Girl Boarders:
First – Meryeta O’Dine from D.P. Todd 51.7 sec.
Second – Sara King from FSJSS 53.3 sec.
Third – Elise Dube from LDSS 53.6 sec.
Boy Boarders:
First – Justin Harrison from College Heights 51.1 sec.
Second – Evan Bichon from D.P. Todd 51.71 sec.
Third – Andre Dube from LDSS 53.19 sec.
