English Alpine Champs 2017 Day 4
On day four of the English Alpine Ski Championships, racers experienced another day of great racing conditions for the FIS Alpine Combined on the Stelvio piste, and for the Under 12s and Under 10s Combi race on the Stella Alpina piste.
Billy Major FIS AC Photo: Racer Ready
In the FIS Alpine Combined, Delancey British Alpine Team skier Billy Major claimed another Under 21 English title and also won the FIS race outright. This follows his win yesterday in the FIS Super G. Major beat off tough international competition, including Ivica Kostelic, to claim the win. The second-fastest British skier in the men’s Under 21 was Sam Todd-Saunders, with Robert Poth taking third place.
Yasmin Cooper improved on her third position in the Super G yesterday to claim the Under 21 ladies English title in the Alpine Combined. Second position went to Honor Clissold, with the other British racers in the category failing to finish.
In the men’s Under 18 category, the fastest Brit was Scottish racer Kieran Troup, who was closely followed by Charlie Luke, who claimed the overall English title. Third fastest Under 18 Brit was Leonidas Karavasili.
In the ladies’ Under 18 competition, Scotland’s Alannah Lawrie was again the fastest Brit, after winning her age category in the Super G yesterday. Just behind her was Megan Riley who took the English Under 18 title. In third position was Kathryn Bailey with her first podium of the week.
Quotes from the English Champions in the FIS Alpine Combined:
Billy Major – 1st U21 Super G men’s:
“I had really mixed feelings after the Super-G run – happy and a bit disappointed. I wanted to try and win that race but I guess with the amount of Super-G I’ve done that’s still pretty good. I spoke to my dad in-between the runs and asked him whether I should try and focus on making sure I got the English title, or whether to try and win the whole race overall. I made my mind up that I wanted to win the whole thing, and if I’d had come out it would have been annoying, but at least I was clear on what I was trying to do before.The slalom was pretty rutty but I managed to stay in, and the snow is a little bit more sugary today because it’s warmer.”
Yasmin Cooper – 1st U21 Alpine Combined women’s:
“I’m happy to win but it’s a shame Jess crashed out as she was skiing really well and it would have been close between us. I’d definitely always go down first in a situation like that as I don’t like looking directly at an opponent before I ski, and I would have had to watch her if I was behind. Overall I’m really happy though as I didn’t think I would win the Alpine Combined this week, especially after the Super-G yesterday.”
Charlie Luke – 1st U18 Alpine combined men’s:
“I’m thrilled to be an English champion. I got some confidence from doing the Super-G yesterday and went out to attack the course a bit more, and I’m so happy with the overall result. I got podiums at under-16 level but I’ve never been an English champion before, it’s a great feeling. I did the kids Super-G last year but that is completely different to this. The speed and how hard it is to turn the skis are on another level – it’s pretty scary in parts!”
Megan Riley – 1st U18 Alpine Combined women’s:
“Super-G wasn’t great; I was too passive and didn’t really attack it enough.
But the Slalom went really well and I skied pretty well so I’m very happy with that one. I was just even more scared on the Super-G today than I was yesterday. It was good fun and a slower course, but they set it a bit straighter over the Chuck jump so I was a bit nervous going into that. I didn’t really have a specific target for the week coming in. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but it’s been going really well. Hopefully I can get another podium in the GS as that’s my favourite discipline, but I’m not sure how good I actually am at it!”
On the Stella Alpina piste, the Under 12 and Under 10s took part in a fun Combi race with a course made up for GS gates, slalom gates, berms and a jump, aimed at aiding the development of the ‘minis’.
Luca Carrick Smith U12 Combi Photo: Racer Ready
Taking victory for the boys in the Under 12 category was Luca Carrick-Smith who despite skiing out in his first run, charged his second run to clock the best time of the day. In second place was Travis Parker from Ambition Racing who claimed his first ever on-snow podium after a storming first run. Alex Ogden, who made a mistake on his first run, gave it all he had in run two to clock a fast time and take third place.
Charlotte Holmes U12 Combi Photo: Racer Ready
In the under 12 girls race, Pendle Ski Club racer Charlotte Holmes claimed her first podium of the Championships to take the win ahead of Glasgow Ski Racing’s Erin Ward. Anna Kamaly-Asl from Manchester Ski Racing also stood on the podium for the first time to claim third position.
In the boys Under 10s category, it was two more podiums for the Carrick-Smith’s with Freddy Carrick-Smith taking the win with two storming runs ahead of his brother Zak Carrick-Smith. Third place went to Hamish Blyth of the Scottish Ski Club, who was on the podium for the first time this week.
Holly Tutt was on form again today, claiming her second podium of the week as she won the Under 10s girls Combi. In second place was Tabitha Milkins, who earlier in the week had claimed the Under 10s girls GS win. Third place went to Annabelle Davey from Sandown Park with a solid first run.
Quotes from the winners:
Luca Carrick-Smith – 1st U12 Boys Combi:
“I was really pleased with my second run, I was a bit late lower down the course, but still managed to clock a good time. It was much better than my first run.”
Charlotte Holmes – 1st U12 Girls Combi:
“I am really, really happy because I have only done a few on-snow races so it was a bit of a shock. I have really knuckled down this season and focused on having fun this season, so it is obviously working. Before the race my brother had a chat to me and it meant I wasn’t nervous. He made me feel confident.”
Freddy Carrick-Smith – 1st U14 Boys Combi:
“The first run was good, it was a lot cleaner, but I am happy with both my runs today. I really wanted to beat my brother, so I was really happy I did.”
Holly Tutt – 1st U10 Girls Combi:
“I was really nervous ahead of my second run, because I missed a gate on my first run. I was happy with my second run and time. I have had a good week in Bormio and have had two good races. It has been a lot of fun.”
The full results can be viewed on the English Alpine Championships page on the Snowsport England website: www.snowsportengland.org.uk. All the action can be followed on Twitter @SnowsportEng and the Snowsport England page on Facebook.
Tomorrow the action continues with the FIS GS on the Stella Alpina piste and the U16/U14 Super G on the Stelvio race piste.
Snowsport England would like to thank the continued sponsorship and support of the event by main sponsors and supporters Bormio Ski, Rossignol, Vital, Ski Club of Great Britain, Ski Bartletts and Racer Ready.
Categories: Racing