ALPINE:

Simmerling leads Canadian sweep in Nor-Am women's downhill

Feb. 15, 2011 — Alpine Canada  

ASPEN, Colorado — Georgia Simmerling won her first career Nor-Am Cup race Monday to lead a Canadian sweep of the podium in the women's downhill.

The 21-year-old from Vancouver, B.C., sped down the course at Aspen, Colorado, in a time of 1 minute, 43.08 seconds to claim victory ahead of teammates Julia Roth of Waterloo, Ont. (1:43.33) and Sarah Freeman (1:43.46).

"It's been a long time coming," said Simmerling, who made her Nor-Am debut in 2006. "The conditions were definitely more challenging today. I just tried to focus at the start on getting the job done.

"I've been struggling the last couple of weeks, and coming back on the Nor-Am circuit and having a win definitely feels great. It's given me a boost for the rest of the season."

The other leading Canadians were Raymond James Alberta Ski Team member Stephanie Irwin of Calgary, Alta., and Prospect Group member Madison McLeish of Canmore, Alta. They were eighth and ninth, respectively.

Coach Jean-Sébastien Labrie said Simmerling's result capped a strong day for the team.

"A podium sweep is amazing. Georgia skied really well and she deserved to win," said Labrie, who added that Quebec Team skier Victoria Stevens of Mont-Tremblant, Que., also a member of the Prospect Group, skied well despite missing a gate and not finishing the race.

"Madison McLeish did some great things today and improved incredibly. She had a great run and was four seconds faster than in training yesterday, so that was definitely positive."  

On the men's side, Whistler's Conrad Pridy, a member of the B.C. Ski Team, earned a career-best fourth-place finish behind USA skiers Wiley Maple (1:37.58), Thomas Biesemeyer (1:38.45) and Erik Fisher (1:38.52).

"I'm pretty excited. I thought it went really well — everything went according to plan," said Pridy, 22, who clocked a time of 1:38.95. "Usually on race day I try to do a little extra but I've been trying to be more relaxed and to have more of a calculated approach."

There was a strong field of skiers in the men's event, including World Cup veteran Jan Hudec of Calgary and Ben Thomsenof Invermere, B.C., who both took part in Saturday's downhill at the World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

"Conrad skied great. He deserved that," said men's coach Kip Harrington. "The other guys did well in training, but we are going to take a good look at the video. We are absolutely capable of coming out tomorrow and getting on the podium.

"Jan and Ben arrived late last night with very little sleep. They had one training run this morning and I think it would be a lot to expect them to walk out and win the race."

Alberta Ski Team member Andy Trow of Canmore, Alta., was eighth, followed by Hudec and Thomsen in ninth and 10th, respectively.

The men and women compete in downhill again on Tuesday before the men turn their attention to super-G and super-combined later in the week.