Apex Freestyle club members and alumni earned 15 podium spots in the first Timber Tour and Super Youth competition of the season at Apex Mountain.
“That’s a good showing for our first event,” said AFC coach Kenni Kuroda.
With the slope style course not built early enough, AFC members didn’t get as much training as the club would have liked. Kuroda said that showed a bit when the athletes competed. With moguls, it was different.
“I’m very happy with our results. We have been training on that course and the athletes came through,” he said.
In Super Youth, Rhya Covert, nine, won gold in all three disciplines, as did Jordan MacDonald, 12. Alex Wargniez, eight, earned gold in big air and moguls.
“They are very keen,” said Kuroda of that golden trio, which is part of AFC’s junior competition team. “I was very happy with their performances.”
The first event of the season didn’t attract the same number of competitors as last year, said Kuroda, but the skill level has gone up.
“Everyone is training harder, getting better,” he said. “It’s starting to show. Even at the Super Youth level it was very impressive what the kids are trying to attempt now. It’s pretty cool to see.”
In the Timber Tour slope style, Courtney MacDonald was the top AFC member in F16 placing fifth with 28 points, 22 points back of the winner. In F18, Chloe Kober scored 38.8 to capture gold, while teammate Shaina Finlayson took silver with 36.2. In M14, Alec Henderson earned the top result for AFC placing sixth, scoring 45.8, which was just shy of 40 points behind the winner. Cameron Kapusty in M18 earned bronze scoring 47.6, 20 points behind the winner.
In big air, Finlayson won the club’s lone gold medal scoring 19.4 points, while Kober earned silver with 17.6. MacDonald took home bronze, scoring 15.4. In M18, Sheldon DeKock won AFC a bronze medal with 47.2 points.
Moguls is where the club had the most success. In F16, Jamie Rykuiter won silver scoring 57.87, while Anna Spence was fifth. In F18, alumni Mackenzie Schwinghamer, competing for the Alberta provincial team, won gold scoring 72.71, while Kassidy Todd of Team B.C., took silver with 60.54 points. In M14, Henderson and Ethan Phillips took silver and bronze, respectively with 55.39 and 52.98 points. In M16, Kuroda won gold with 73.68 points, while Hayden Person of Team B.C. picked up silver with 65.54 points. In M18, Koleton Phipps with Alberta, won gold with 78.03 points, Kyle Parker and Joseph Durham of Team B.C. won silver and bronze, respectively with 73.48 and 69.73 points.
Conditions at Apex Mountain Resort were considered to be excellent and Kuroda praised the work by resort staff for getting it together.
“The event went very smooth,” he said. “No major injuries.”