The Silver Star Freestyle Ski Club members earned stellar results in hosting a B.C. Freestyle Series event last weekend.
In the men’s 16-18 category, Silver Star grad Tyson Oland led the way with silver medals in both big air and slopestyle events. Joining him on the big air podium was fellow Team B.C. member Thomas Pool of Vernon, who collected bronze. Pool added a fifth in slopestyle. Will Finch, in big air, and Brett Lemiski, in slopestyle, earned fourth.
Tanner Gordon ruled the 14-15 boys division by coming in backwards (switch) and landing an off-axis, cork-900 to win the big air by a wide margin. In slopestyle, Jake Ondrik was fourth.
In a stacked 12-13 boys division, Patrick (Mountain) Dew secured silver in slopestyle, bronze in big air and fifth in moguls.
Local athletes took six of the top 10 places, with Jackson Kathler (fourth), Patrick Marsh (sixth), Brandt Adams (eighth), Shane Pelkey (ninth) and Landon Gordon (10th).
In the 10-11 boys bracket, racer-turned-freestyler Declan Stevenson used his technical skills on the boxes and rails, and pulled 720 spins to earn first in slopestyle, bronze in big air and sixth in moguls. Hayden Person landed a pair of 360s to place fourth in moguls.
For the 8-9 boys, Sam Rampado put together a solid run to take silver in moguls, while seven-year-old Jaxson Peters landed a 360 in big air to earn silver. He followed that up with a silver in slopestyle.
Jamie Rykuiter, Megan Loland and Jenna Cotter led the way for the ladies in the 11-12 girls age bracket.
In girls action, Jamie Rykuiter performed a spread eagle and Japan grab to record silver in slopestyle, and added fourth in big air and fifth in moguls. Megan Loland had top-10 finishes in both slopestyle and moguls, and Jenna Cotter showed the boys up by recording the biggest air of the weekend on the Super Youth slopestyle course.
In the Super Youth division, Elena Gaskell hit the rails, landed 360s and put together a clean turns to strike gold in big air, slopestyle and moguls. With five gold and a silver in six events this season, Gaskell qualifies for the B.C. Championships, March 29-April 1, at Mt. Washington in Courtenay. Tressa Reinhardt pocketed silver in both the slopestyle and mogul events in the Under 7 girls category.
Parents and spectators thanked chief of competition Chris Reeves and his team of volunteers, and Silver Star for hosting a safe, fun event.
