NEWS RELEASE
ELLIOT LAKE SKI RACERS
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The Elliot Lake Ski Racers (ELSR) continue to thrive in the community, with Mt. Dufour Ski Resort being the team’s home hill. This year, the team has 20 members ranging from ages 6-18 under the direction of team head coach Jason Wilcox, coach Bill Goulding and new coach Kora Wilcox. Skiers train every Saturday and Sunday, and on Fridays whenever possible.
ELSR got the season underway with its first two races of the year. Our U-14 and U-16 racers attended the 3rd Annual Home Hardware Classic an Mt. Antoine in Mattawa Jan. 20, and 21, 2018. The team sent six racers who represented ELSR very well.
On Saturday, the racers skied slalom, and U-18 David Tyler got third place, while Trent Heard placed fourth. U-16 Evan Tyler had an outstanding finish on the podium in third place, and U-14 Rebecca Chau fought a hard race to earn a fourth place finish.
On Sunday, the racers skied GS, and David Tyler and Trent Heard repeated their results from the previous day, with Evan Tyler finishing fifth in U-14 boys and Rebecca Chau finishing sixth in U-14 girls. McKenna Wilcox and Emlyn Goulding raced with the older kids and gained some valuable experience over the course of the weekend.
Jan. 27 and 28 had 11 racers ages 8-16 at Kamiskotia Snow Resort in Timmins at the Boreal Cup. With a combination of very warm and very cold weather over the two days, the racers skied hard and had some podium finishes.
On day one, U-12 McKenna Wilcox finished with a silver medal, and Rebecca Chau got a fourth place finish in U-14 girls, while for the boys, Evan Tyler also got a fourth place finish for the U-14 age group.
In our younger ages, Ellis Eldon surprised himself with a third place finish for U-8 boys, while in U-10 girls, Myla Goulding placed eleventh, Claire McEachern placed twelth, Ava Currie place sixteenth and Lena Falzon placed seventeenth.
Day two of the race resulted in more stellar results. ELSR top finisher was McKenna Wilcox, who was top of the podium with a first place finish for U-12 girls in GS and in the same event, Emlyn Goulding had a very strong finish in seventh place. Ellis Eldon finished fourth in the combi event, and while it was a tough day for Hamish McNaughton and Claire McEachern, they demonstrated some strong perseverance and determination to finish their runs, making their coaches very proud.
The Elliot Lake Ski Racers will be hosting a U-12 race on March 3 and 4, welcoming racers from Timmins, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury, which is always a very fun and exciting event for the club, the racers and for Mt. Dufour. We encourage the community to come out and cheer on our youngest racers and see how all of their hard work is paying off.
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