Norway grabs Whistler Cup team titles; four podium finishes Sunday for U.S.

Norway grabs Whistler Cup team titles; four podium finishes Sunday for U.S.{mosimage}Norway swept the team trophies at the Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup races that wrapped up Sunday at Whistler, British Columbia, while U.S. racers had their most successful day of the three-day event, landing on the podium four times and picking up 12 top-10 finishes.

The Norwegian team, which also won the Nations Cup at this event last year, took the overall prize and both the Kinder 1 (J IV, 11-12) and Kinder 2 (J III, 13-14) age group titles.

On Sunday, Italy’s Rocco Delsante won the men’s K1 slalom, while Americans Michael Ankeny and Michael Radford finished second and third, respectively. The U.S. wound up with four of the top five and six in the top 10, with Cody Unicume fourth, Nick Daniels fifth, Evan Diamond ninth and Taylor Wunsch 10th. Erik Read (son of Alpine Canada chief Ken Read) was the top Canadian, finishing sixth, while Ontario’s Philip Brown was eighth.

In Sunday’s one-run K2 men’s giant slalom, Norway’s Markus Nilsen took the win, with Marcel Hirsch of Austria, who beat Nilsen in the giant slalom at Topolino in Italy this season, in second and teammate Max Franz third. Alex Jones was sixth for the U.S., the only American to crack the top 10; Tommy Biesemeyer, Tommy Ford and Nolan Kasper all made the top 15. Braden Long was the leading Canadian in 14th, one spot ahead of Brandon Mudryk.

“My goal today was just to do the best I possibly could and to see how far that would take me. GS is definitely my best event,” said Nilsen, whose brother Andreas races in the technical events on the World Cup circuit. “I’d like to follow in his footsteps one day.”

Kristina Riis-Johannessen of Norway took the gold-medal in the K1 women’s slalom. She was joined on the podium by Americans Devin Delaney and Joelle Chevalier, who earned silver and bronze respectively. Three other U.S. skiers made the top 10: Gabrielle Anthony was sixth, Ashley Stamp seventh and Jeanna Kantor 10th. The top Canadian was Shannon Campbell in fifth, while teammates Marissa Riopelle and Madison Irwin finished eighth and ninth, respectively.

In the one-run K2 women’s GS, Anna Fenninger of Salzburg, Austria, got the gold, with Norwegians Thea Hovde and Nina Loeseth in second and third. Vancouver’s Georgia Simmerling was ninth, the only Canadian to make the top 10. Kiley Staples was tops for the U.S. in 11th, with Micaela Holland 13th, Kerri Dutcher 14th and Alice McKennis 15th.

“I’m happy to have done so well at this event,” said Fenninger, who earned two gold medals and a bronze over the three days of racing. “I achieved what I came here to do — maybe more.”

Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup

Whistler Mountain, British Columbia

Women’s K1 (11-12) Slalom

1. Kristina Riis-Johannessen, NOR, 1:13.39

2. Devin Delaney, USA, 1:17.82;

3. Joelle Chevalier, USA, 1:19.23

4. Nanako Tsubame, JPN, 1:20.79

5. Shannon Campbell, Ontario, 1:21.50

6. Gabrielle Anthony, USA, 1:21.78

7. Ashley Stamp, USA, 1:21.85

8. Marissa Riopelle, Ontario, 1:22.25

9. Madison Irwin, Ontario, 1:22.26

10. Jeanna Kantor, USA, 1:22.74

Women’s K2 (13-14) Giant Slalom

1. Anna Fenninger, AUT, 0:47.10

2. Thea Hovde, NOR, 0:47.70

3. Nina Loeseth, NOR, 0:48.10

4. Jana Gantnerova, SVK, 0:48.54

5. Stefanie Wopfner, AUT, 0:48.58

6. Klara Krizova, CZE, 0:49.02

7. Elisabeth Rottensteiner, AUT, 0:49.11

8. Thea Grosvold, NOR, 0:49.36

9. Georgia Simmerling, British Columbia, 0:49.59

10. Nikola Galfyova, SVK, 0:49.73

Men’s K1 (11-12) Slalom

1. Rocco Delsante, ITA, 1:13.04

2. Michael Ankeny, USA, 1:13.88

3. Michael Radford, USA, 1:14.19

4. Cody Unicume, USA, 1:16.15

5. Nick Daniels, USA, 1:17.61

6. Evan Diamond, USA, 1:18.00

7. Erik Read, Alberta, 1:18.07

8. Takuya Fukushi, JPN, 1:17.61

9. Philip Brown, Ontario, 1:18.75

10. Andy Trow, CAN, 1:19.91

Men’s K2 (13-14) Giant Slalom

1. Markus Nilsen, NOR, 0:47.09

2. Marcel Hirscher, AUT, 0:47.21

3. Max Franz, AUT, 0:47.90

4. Jonathan Nordbotten, NOR, 0:48.03

5. Andreas Haug, NOR, 0:48.58

6. Hyeun-Tae Kim, KOR, 0:48.92

7. Alex Jones, USA, 0:48.95;

8. Armin Triendl, AUT, 0:48.97

9. Hiromu Kobayashi, JPN, 0:49.14

10. Tsubasa Adachi, JPN, 0:49.44