AERIALS:

Belanger, Lee lead Canadian podium sweep of Apex aerials

March 3, 2010 —  Canadian Freestyle Ski Association         

►Photos: Top: Geneviève Tougas, left, Crystal Lee, Sabrina Guérin; Travis Gerrits, left, Remi Belanger and Jon Vellner (CFSA)

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APEX MOUNTAIN, B.C. — Rémi Bélanger of Mascouche, Que., and Crystal Lee of Queensville, Ont., led Canada to medal sweeps in men’s and women’s aerials with golden performances on Tuesday at a Nor-Am freestyle skiing competition.

In women’s aerials, Lee overcame an injury-plagued season and week to land two solid jumps and win the gold medal with a 146.96 score. Sabrina Guérin of Laval, Que., was second at 132.33, Geneviève Tougas of St-Hubert, Que., third at 129.60 and Laurence Allard-Riendeau of Montreal fourth at 120.88.

Lee suffered a shoulder injury at the Calgary World Cup in January. She started training again here last week but strained her back and skipped Monday’s aerials event. She did only two training jumps Tuesday morning.

“There was some apprehension,” said Lee, 21, who took her third Nor-Am medal this season. “But I’ve worked a lot on how I need to deal with those situations. I was glad to go out and put down two solid jumps. My training jumps went well and that gave me confidence.”

Tougas also missed Monday’s event due to injury, but her medal performance allows her to win the overall aerials title on the circuit. She earned three medals and a fourth this season in Nor-Am competition, including a victory at the opening stop in Park City, Utah. Allard-Riendeau was second overall.

In men’s competition, Bélanger earned his second victory in two days, totaling 205.21 points. Jonathan Vellner of Red Deer, Alta., was second at 185.18 and Travis Gerrits of Milton, Ont., third at 178.53.

“It was a bigger challenge today with the strong winds,” said Bélanger, 22, at his first competition since suffering a concussion in late January. “I didn’t land any of my jumps cleanly in training and that raised the stress level for the competition. I was pleased with how I overcame that.”

Olivier Rochon of Gatineau, Que., was fifth.

Nevin Brown of the U.S., took the Nor-Am season men’s aerials crown while Gerrits was second and Vellner third.  SRC