麻豆社区

The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) Seawolves ski team dominated the field at the first-ever FIS Coaches Cup ski races held at Mount Sima Nov. 18-19.

Not only did they sweep the podiums in men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 Giant Slalom (GS) and Slalom, but on Friday, the UAA women claimed the top six spots in the GS and the men swept the top four positions in their GS.

The Star spoke to UAA鈥檚 Jan Ronner from Wald Im Schoberpass, Austria (near Schladming), following his victory in the men鈥檚 GS Friday.

鈥淚鈥檓 really happy. It鈥檚 great to start the season like that. It was a great race, I think. The conditions were great and we had the chance to train here for the last days and we have some great training and it鈥檚 perfect to start the season with a win.鈥�

鈥淚 think my first run was a better run. I was leading after the first run 鈥� I didn鈥檛 have the fastest time on the second run but I think it was good skiing on both runs. I was happy with my skiing today.鈥�

Ronner said the conditions were great.

鈥淭hey were perfect today. Every start I had perfect conditions. Also the young people鈥檚 team here, perfect for their first FIS races.鈥�

Ronner, 22, is an experienced FIS racer.

鈥淚鈥檓 already pretty old,鈥� he laughed. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 my sixth season, so I鈥檝e been racing in Austria before and last year I came to the US and the UAA Seawolves and I really like it here. I had a good season last year and I hope we鈥檙e having a good season this year as a team.鈥�

Ronner earned National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team honours last year. Despite the accolades, he said 鈥淚 hope I can step it up this year and be top-seven, would be great.鈥�

Ronner capped a successful weekend with third in the slalom on Saturday.

Caeden Carruthers, 21, is from Fredricton, N.B. but spent the last five years in Calgary. Carruthers finished second in the men鈥檚 GS Friday.

鈥淭oday was good. Good for me 鈥� just good to be back racing. (It鈥檚 a) long off-season for ski racers and we live to race, so we get a lot of training in. We spend a lot of time in the gym and a lot of time on snow skiing throughout the fall and even in the spring, so when we get back to our first race it鈥檚 always really exciting, so it鈥檚 just good to be back.鈥�

Carruthers attributes his success to 鈥渁 really great team. Everyone鈥檚 been feeding off each other and pushing each other all through the off-season, so it鈥檚 been great to join the new team with a really strong atmosphere and culture, good coaches, good teammates, have made everything easy this year.鈥�

Carruthers finished fourth in the slalom on Saturday.

Ashleigh Alexander, 22, from Cochrane, Alta., near Calgary, finished first in the women鈥檚 GS last Friday.

鈥淐onsidering my second day on GS skis, or second full-length course, it definitely went better than expected, which was nice,鈥� she said.

鈥淭his is my second year with UAA. Before that, I was on the Alberta ski team for about four years. I did my first year of FIS with Calgary Alpine and before that I skied in a club since I was like, eight. So I鈥檝e been doing this for a while.鈥�

Alexander said being in the Yukon is 鈥渟uper cool. How many people get to say they ski in Whitehorse? How many people say they come to Whitehorse? I drove through on my way up to Anchorage and it was just cool to see this place in the summer and now in the winter. We were here last year and it was really cold but this year it鈥檚 a lot warmer, so that鈥檚 always nice.鈥�

Like Carruthers, Alexander attributes her success to the team.

鈥淭he team, hard work and the atmosphere of our team is so great. Everyone鈥檚 always happy. I don鈥檛 think anybody, today at least, expected to come out and ski their best and I was lucky, put two solid runs together, again, considering the lack of training, so that was just 鈥� nice to get back on snow.鈥�

Alexander added that 鈥渒eeping a level head鈥� was a key to her success.

鈥淛ust kind of chillin鈥�, being like 鈥榳hatever happens, happens鈥�, hope for the best. I just try my best.鈥�

Alexander is in Mechanical Engineering at UAA.

She was looking forward to skiing in the slalom on Saturday.

鈥淪lalom isn鈥檛 my stronger event of the two, so, just hoping for the best. We only had one day on slalom skis, which was yesterday, so tomorrow should be interesting. Feeling more confident than I should probably, going into tomorrow鈥檚 race. I skied OK yesterday in training, so I鈥檓 excited to get in the slalom gate.鈥�

Alexander topped off her successful weekend with a fifth in Saturday鈥檚 slalom.

The Star spoke with Matt Jenner, the president of Alpine Yukon as they were getting ready to set up for the second GS run last Friday.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a spectacular day. It鈥檚 wonderful to see all these racers out here having a great time on the mountain.鈥�

There were no Yukon skiers in the FIS races, but Alpine Yukon had three athletes from the alpine Yukon鈥檚 high performance race team participate in the FIS race as forerunners. Those athletes were Mack Jenner, Ellyann Dinn and Annie Heffner.

Jenner was pleased with the course conditions.

鈥淲ell, it鈥檚 hard and fast, for sure. Temperatures this morning were sitting around -10, and I think the warmer weather a few days ago really helped out, because when you get wet snow and you get the cold weather, it starts to ice up, become really hard. So that鈥檚 essentially what you want in FIS competitions, is a really firm ski surface, right?鈥�

鈥淚 haven鈥檛 had an opportunity to talk to any of the athletes, but you can see a lot of happy faces at the end of the finish line. Looking at the live timing that happens, we have some really fast runs 鈥� my intuition says it was one heck of a ride down,鈥� he related.

Jenner said they would be adjusting the course for the slalom races on Saturday.

鈥淚鈥檇 say there鈥檚 a pretty good chance we鈥檙e gonna be working into the night on that one.鈥�

Jenner added 鈥淚 just want to thank all the volunteers for coming out and helping because without them, events like this just don鈥檛 happen.鈥�