ALPINE:

Remme roars to 3rd gold at K2s in Ontario

March 26, 2010 — Alpine Canada       ►Photo: It was all smiles at the K2 slalom (Alpine Canada)

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COLLINGWOOD, Ontario — The 2010 President's Choice Canadian K2 Championships wrapped up Friday with girls' and boys' slalom races at Craigleith Ski Resort. Roni Remme from Ontario's National Ski Academy concluded a quasi-perfect week, adding a third gold medal to her racing résumé with a win in the slalom, complemented by previous wins in the super-G and the super-combined.

Team Ontario teammate Karl Kuus also rounded out a terrific week of competitions with a win in the men's slalom.

Remme, who recently won the overall title at the Ontario K2 Provincials, was beaming after winning the final and ultimate race of the 2010 President's Choice Canadian K2 Championships thanks to a combined time of 1 minute, 34 seconds.

"I really wanted to win today after missing out yesterday," said Remme, who was second in the giant slalom. "I love slalom so I went all out in my first run and had a great clean run that put me more than a full second ahead. It was a great position to be in having such a great lead — nice to be the mouse instead of the cat."

The young and dynamic local racer will be celebrating her terrific week with ... a new dog!

"A small dog," specified Remme. "I really want a small dog I can take with me to events," added the skier, who explained that she would finally be allowed to get a dog after doing so well here at nationals.

Adrienne Poitras from Team Quebec came in second place with a time of 1:36.69.

"I made a mistake in my first run when I fell on the pitch so I needed some extra luck coming in to the second run," said Poitras, who was sitting in eighth place after the morning run. "I knew I couldn't catch up to Roni, who is simply amazing, but felt if I went all out I might get on the podium. I just kept thinking don't fall on the pitch, don't fall and once I did that I just went hard into the flats."

Wearing her ski club "pigtails" with her long hair up on either side through her helmet, Poitras skied down getting many looks and comments.

"It's our tradition at Mont Tremblant to wear ponytails when we are down," explained Poitras. "It's for good luck!"

Alix Wells from Team B.C. finished in third place with a time of 1:36.93. Earlier this week, Wells won the girls' giant slalom.

"I'm sad it's over!" exclaimed Wells, who was fifth after the first run. "I had trouble on the pitch in my first run, in the back seat, so I just went all out in the second run. It's my last run at nationals after all so I had to go for it. Lucky for me I had a smooth, clean run.”

Wells plans on dedicating her summer to playing soccer.

On the boys’ side, the podium was taken over by Team Ontario. Kuus, from Devil's Glen, led the way in 1:34.92.

"No complaints, I got my gold," admitted Kuus, who stepped onto the podium at every race this week, clinching a bronze in giant slalom and super-G and silver in super-combined. "Two bronze, a silver and a gold. What could be better? Honestly I don't remember my runs, I was pumped up. Our whole team was pumped up. We are good at slalom here and the snow was bulletproof, a few ruts but nothing major.”

Teammate Thomas Trusler from Osler Bluff moved up from fourth place in the first run to end up second overall with a time of 1:35.65.

"My first run was OK, all right but not great. Certainly I could have been more aggressive," explained Trusler. "For my second run, I felt like I had already done what I wanted — qualified for Team Ontario at Whistler Cup, so I decided to go all out and have some fun. It was my last run at the nationals, so why not. As it turned out that was the best slalom run of my whole year."

Mitchell Brunning, also from Ontario's Craigleith Ski Club, finished in third place in 1:35.71.

Friday's slalom race marked the end of a complete week of racing for Canada's rising 13- and 14-year old skiing stars. In addition to the 170 athletes competing, the event was supported by several hundred coaches, volunteers,and fans.

A Québec parent commented on how incredibly efficient and well-run this event had been: "As a parent it has been so well-run. If it said that the start would be at 9 a.m., well then that is exactly when it started. We drove in wondering how the event would go off with so little snow but you would never know it by the race hills at these clubs. We had perfect racing conditions every day."  SRC