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Golden results for skier

Apex Freestyle Club was led by 14-year-old Brayden Kuroda during Canadian Junior Nationals
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PENTICTON’S NOAH SPENCE enjoys the view during the Canadian Junior National Freestyle Ski championship at Vernon’s Silverstar Mountain March 30 to April 4. Below

Apex Freestyle Club members stepped up while competing against the best in Canada.

AFC was in Vernon March 30 to April 4 for the Difference Capital Canadian Junior Nationals presented by Bannister Vernon GM.

The local club returned with several medals in freestyle skiing, including five gold from Brayden Kuroda in the under-14 age group, in slope style, big air, hybrid-air, which is a transition from an aerial jump, moguls, dual moguls and silver in aggregate air and medals.

When it came to Brayden’s performance, coach Kenni Kuroda said he was proud of his son.

“It’s not easy to even win a gold, but to win five and a silver is pretty special,” he said. “This is the big one and he just focused and did his best.”

“It was really awesome. I had a real fun time there,” said Brayden, 14. “It was pretty nerve-racking the first couple times. Then I got back into the groove of it. Just took some deep breathes and focused on what I had to do.”

Brayden said it was a difficult field to compete against but it forced him to do his more difficult tricks.

“I felt super good about how I did. It was really awesome taking home some medals,” he said.

In slope style, Brayden credited coach Jessica Warll in helping him earn gold.

“Brayden is just such a strong competitive kid that pulled it together,” she said. “He does really well, especially for not always being in the park. He trains really hard in moguls. I think where I helped him out most was ...  to put a run together that he could land.”

Knowing the tricks he could do consistently, they stuck with what worked, especially on how the course and conditions were.

Other AFC skiers medals: Liam Collyer, U14, silver in slope style; air, U18 Kassidy Todd, gold, U20 Mason Barzilay gold, U16 Koleton Phipps, gold, Hayden Person silver, U18 Joe Durham gold; moguls, U16 Madison Parker, bronze, U20 Barzilay silver, U16 Person silver; dual moguls, U16, Anna Spence bronze, Person, silver, U20 Barzilay, silver; air and moguls combined, Todd, gold, Phipps, gold, Barzilay and Person, bronze.

“I’d say they did remarkable,” said Kenni.

Just missing the podium were James Naude, U16, landing fourth in dual moguls, Mackenzie Schwinghamer fourth in moguls and dual moguls, and Kyle Parker fourth in dual moguls.

Kenni said Todd, Spence, Phipps and Person all skied very well in tough conditions caused by warm weather.

“For them to ski as well as they did, in those conditions, I applaud them,” he said. “I was very proud of all my athletes.”

After taking a year off, Kenni said that Collyer came back with a vengeance taking second in slope style in his first junior nationals.

“He was there for showdown on the weekend and he also competed in the Timber Tour before so he had gotten a lot of practice on there,” said Warll. “I think that helped him out.”

In slope style, Chloe Kober was fifth and eighth in big air, while Shaina Finlayson was sixth in both.

“It’s really good for them,” said Warll. “They are stronger in moguls. They can come and they hit the big jumps. They go big and they can still put a run together competing against girls who are in the park all the time. It’s pretty neat.”