It’s been a busy few weeks for the SapphireOne Team as they zig zag back and forth between Australia and New Zealand.
National Championships – Coronet Peak, Queenstown, New Zealand – August 13 – 16, 2018
Our athletes in New Zealand started a gruelling 3 week block of races with the National Championships and FIS races in Coronet Peak, Queenstown.
Lily Tomkinson, Alec Scott, Jack Adams, Theo Coates, Connor Leggett and Shaun Findlay battled it out against the best skiers from NZ and a strong international field including many World Cup skiers. Ted Ligety who just happened to be at Coronet Peak training decided to drop in to the Slalom race and add to the amazing talent already on the hill.
At the end of the week, the athletes flew into Melbourne to make their way to Mt Hotham for the start of the Australia New Zealand Cup series.
Australia New Zealand Cup (ANC) – Mt Hotham, VIC, Australia – August 20-23, 2018
Day 1 update ANC Mt Hotham – Giant Slalom
In the Women Greta Small placed 6th with 36 FIS points, Madison Hoffman placed 8th/48 points, Kendra Etherton 12th/68 points, Zoe Michael 16th/108 points, Zanna Farrell 17th/117 points, Adele Selig 18th/118 points and Isabel Walker 20th/127 points in the top 20. Also competing were Isabella Davis, Kate Hobbs, Tess Mahony, Jalili Wakim, Elise Kenny, Catarina Di Ramio, Zara Gardiner, Zali Offord and Lily Tomkinson.
In the Men, with a large international field, we had Alec Scott 20th/33 points, Louis Muhlen-Schulte 25th/37 points, Harry Laidlaw 27th/38 points, Theo Coates 28th/39points, Jack Adams 32nd/46 points in the tightly packed top 35 men. Also competing were Finn Bowes, Connor Leggett, Angus McKenzie, Shaun Findlay, Wim Roney, Cody Allport, Hayden Etherton, Lachlan Green, Nicholas Drechsel, Jack Drechsel, Nicholas Morris and Alfred Went.
Day 2 update ANC Mt Hotham – Giant Slalom
The second day of the race series went ahead after a weather delay of one day.
In the Women’s Madison Hoffman had a great result skiing into 4th/28 points. In the Top 15 were Adele Selig in 12th/92 points and Zoe Michael 13th/96 points. Other racers competing on a soft and challenging course were Kate Hobbs 15th, Elise Kenny 16th, Zara Gardiner 17th, Isabel Walker 18th, Isabella Davis, 20th and Tess Mahony 21st.
In the Men’s we had a number of athletes in the Top 20. Harry Laidlaw 11th/20 points, Alec Scott 14th/22 points, Louis Muhlen-Schulte 16th/28 points and a PB from Jack Adams at 18th/30 points. In the top 40 we had Connor Leggett 33rd/60 points and Wim Roney 40th/84 points with our other athletes not far behind – Finn Bowes, Shaun Findlay, Alfred Wenk, Tom Davies, Cody Allport, Hayden Etherton, Lachlan Green and Nicholas Morris.
Day 3 update ANC Mt Hotham – Slalom
Our Aussie athletes had a great day yesterday. In the Womens all our finishing athletes were in the Top 20 with Madison Hoffman taking the podium in 2nd place/18 points. Behind Madison was Lily Tomkinson 8th/40 points, Zoe Michael 11th/91 pionts, Kendra Etherton 12th/108 points, Zara Gardiner 16th/177 ponts and first year FIS Isabella Davis 17th/184 points. We had a few DNF’s however they’ll be back on course to battle it out on Day 2 of Slalom.
In the Men’s we had four athletes in the Top 25. Louis Muhlen-Schulte 6th/14 points, Alec Scott 20th/30 points, Jack Adams 21st/34 points and Theo Coates 25th/36 points. In the top 35 we had Hayden Etherton 33rd/188 points, Lachlan Green 246 points and Cody Allport 35th/250 points.
Day 4 Update ANC Mt Hotham – Slalom
Mt Hotham turned on a picture perfect day for the last day of the ANC Mt Hotham race series.
Our Aussie athletes continued to make their mark with strong results on challenging courses against world class international competition.
In the Womens race Lily Tomkinson skied into 5th place/51 points, Zali Offord 9th/60 points, 1st year FIS Zoe Michael scored a great result with 10th/69 points, Kendra Etherton 13th/115 points, Isabella Davis 14th/149 points and Zara Gardiner 15th/182 points.
In the Men’s race congratulations to Louis Muhlen-Schulte who podiumed with 2nd place and scored 13 points. In the top 15 we had Alec Scott 10th/28 points, Jack Adams 13th/36 points and Theo Coates 15th/42 points. Shaun Findlay came in at 23rd, Hayden Etherton 25th and Cody Allport 26th.
Many of the athletes, including the SapphireOne Team, drove directly to Melbourne Airport on completion of the final day of competition to travel to New Zealand for the start of the Australia New Zealand Cup at Coronet Peak starting Monday 27 August.
Australia New Zealand Cup (ANC) – Coronet Peak Queenstown, New Zealand – August 27 – 31, 2018The ANC Coronet Peak, New Zealand kicked off as part of the New Zealand Winter Games. With athletes from almost all skiing nations, the competition was particularly tough. In the Men’s events there were World Cup skiers with bib numbers in the 30’s.
Day 1 Update ANC Coronet Peak – Giant Slalom
Women – Lily Tomkinson was our only Aussie athlete who unfortunately had a DNF in the second run.
Men – In the Men our best performing athletes were Alec Scott placed 26th/29 points, Harry Laidlaw 27th/33 points, Jack Adams 36th/49 points and Connor Leggett 45th/72 points.
Day 2 Update ANC Coronet Peak – Giant Slalom
Another tough day of competition. Australia had two athletes in the Top 25 – Alec Scott 19th and Harry Laidlaw 22nd. SapphireOne Team athletes placed 34th (Jack Adams) and 37th(Connor Leggett).
Day 3 Update ANC Coronet Peak – Slalom
As the Slalom event took its toll on our tiring athletes Theo Coates scored a Personal Best (PB) of 25thplace/30 points.
Day 4 Update ANC Coronet Peak – Slalom
Day 2 of Slalom ended with only 29 of the men finishing and 18 of the women finishing. Our best result was from Alec Scott placing 13th/33 points. Congratulations to all the athletes that competed over the 4 days against a field of World Cup racers including legend Ted Ligety (who our boys managed to beat!!). Good luck with the races for the rest of season.
