ALPINE:

Semple snags 2nd in Garceau GS

Jan. 6, 2011 — Alpine Canada 

MONT-GARCEAU, Quebec — Ryan Semple finished second in Wednesday's giant slalom at the Northwest Funds Nor-Am Cup at Mont-Garceau, Que.

Semple, who hadn't been on a Nor-Am podium in giant slalom since 2005, crossed the finish line with a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 49.24 seconds.

"I qualified for the giant slalom race in Sölden but I didn't feel really comfortable at that time of the year to race the event,”said the 28 year-old athlete, who had his best World Cup career result last year at Kitzbühel, Austria, as he finished 11th in the super-combined. “I've been training GS since this summer and my skiing is getting there. I did a FIS race against the guys racing today not too long ago and I finished second, so I knew I was ready.

"I didn't put any pressure on my shoulders today. I was a little bit tentative in the first run, but I watched some video after it and realized that I needed to be aggressive and attack the course as much as I could since it was a short course," added Semple who was 13th after the first run. "It was a tight race and I knew that if I had a fast second run I had a chance at the podium."

Will Gregorak of the United States of America was the fastest skier at Mont-Garceau with a time of 1:49.01. Teammate Ace Tarberry rounded out the podium by finishing third with a time of 1:49.31.

The top Canadian athlete in the junior category was Erik Read, an Alberta skier from Banff Alpine Racers who is also in the national prospect program. Read finished with a time of 1:49.42, which ranked him in ninth place. Third place in the junior category was Philip Brown, an Ontario skier from Alberta Ski Academy who is also part of the national prospect program.

Across the 49th parallel, the women switched their giant slalom skis for slalom skis at Sunday River, Maine.

Top Canadian skier Elli Terwiel repeated Tuesday's feat as she finished third with a combined time of 1:42.76.

Two Americans finished second and third. Mikaela Shiffrin landed at the top of the podium with a two-run combined time of 1:42.03, and teammate Kiley Staples finished second with a time of 1:42.75.

The top athlete in the junior categor was Laura Rozinowicz, an Ontario athlete from Georgian Peaks who finished with a time of 1:46.82.

The final men's and women's event for this Nor-Am Cup will take place Thursday as the women race in another slalom event at Sunday River and the men race a GS race at Mont-Garceau, QC.  S-Magazine