L a t e s t  n e w s ..... Rachel Adcock and Gerard Flahive win both races at Scottish Dry Slope Championships ...

'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams' (Eleanor Roosevelt).

Benn Hall and Jayme Baggio give sterling performances, others disappoint

Jayme Baggio was hardly troubled as she gave yet another performance demonstrating why she is the top female dryslope racer of the moment. Having won the two Grand Prix races that she entered this season with barely a hint of a challenge, Baggio walked away with the All England title in Sunderland.  Baggio has raised the bar for the rest of the racers to reach if they want to be considered the best of the rest.  While the sun shone and a gentle breeze came across the slope the rest of the female dryslope racers could only fight for the scrapes that had been left behind the Hemel trained racer. In the men's race Benn Hall trailed Marc Telling by a mere eight hundredths following the first run and put the pressure on the ex-BSA coach so much with a stunning second run that saw Telling ski out as he attempted to maintain too fine a line half way down. Hall laid down the challenge for the older and more experienced racer yet Telling did not have the legs on him to win back to back All England Titles!

With the first run, set by local coach Pierre Mahon, accounting for a number of fancied racers, the second run, set by Carl "the exterminator" Ryding, destroyed the hopes of many others! While many coaches and parents bemoaned the fact that their charges skied out on the second run, this was a Championship course! Those that skied out could be accused of not inspecting thoroughly enough and of using the inspection time for a social rather than focusing on the race. On snow total concentration is drilled into athletes so why they think that plastic is any different is beyond belief if they wish to achieve the same success! Lessons will have been learned! For some the frustration at wanting to achieve a great result was evident, for others too evident.

While Baggio was just too good for the rest of the field, it was the Grand Prix Champion Rachel Adcock that took second place ahead of the surprise package Abby Clifford. Clifford has had a poor season this year by her own standards due to a mix of education commitments and her own desire.  Adcock was in the difficult position of being comfortably ahead of the rest yet tantalisingly too far behind the leader, she held her nerve and concentration to make sure that Baggio still had to work for her win.  Clifford came from back in the pack after the first run and with the demise of Shanna Prince on the second run was able to take third place with a performance that should give her confidence to take her skiing seriously again. Alice Thelwell took fourth overall and Alessia Thomas Jackson fifth to round out the top five overall in the female race.

In the male race Hall's win was a result of determination and desire for a first Overall All England Title, there will be more! Will Marc Telling skiing out on the second run having lead the first, the close racing that had seen the leader board stack up saw the cards unravel with Craig Ruddick on his home slope in second and the winner of the British Dry Slope Championship on the same slope last year, Andy Roose, in third.  The men's race was tight and many of the more experienced racers admitted to being worried about the second run as they went up to face the music. Those that concentrated made it down and those that took risks reaped the rewards! Matt Bruton, a student at Newcastle University fought his way into fourth with Bradley Morgan proving that there is more to come from the Pendle club despite David "Rocket" Ryding not being there. Special mention must be made to Tristan Glasse Davis who managed to grin his way down both courses after securing a late entry and ended up with sixth place overall!

In the age groups some fierce competition took place.  In the girls Children 1 age group, the season long battle between Nia Jenkins and Stephanie Davies was upset by a storming performance by Gloucester's Sarah Lambden as she shared top spot with Nia Jenkins as both recorded the same time on both runs! Stephanie Davies took third, a mere six hundredths behind! Alessia Thomas Jackson took the older children age group with 5th place overall ahead of Jeni Thomas and Louise Bain.  In the Junior 1 group, victory went to overall winner Baggio ahead of Katie Adam and Lucy Peel. Junior 2 saw a win for Abby Clifford from Stacey Luck and Kathryn Barber.  In the Senior age group, Rachel Adcock took the spoils ahead of Alice Thelwell and Emily Goddard while in the Masters the All England Title went to Mary Ondrusz ahead of Sheila Driscoll and Janet Earnshaw Hamilton.

In the male age groups Jake Morgan took the Children 1 age group coming from a start number of 73 to place 22nd overall ahead of James Gibb and Shaun Blyth.  Dan Evans took the older Children's age group ahead of the fast improving Max Wheatman and Lewis John taking third.  Junior 1 saw Bradley Morgan take the win ahead of Dan Curtis, both in the top ten overall, with Sam Goodlass taking a fantastic third place in the age group in 15th overall (from a start of 49).  Junior 2 gave Benn Hall the win ahead of Andy Roose and Stuart Riches while in the Senior age group, Craig Ruddick took the win ahead of Matt Bruton and Tristan Glasse Davies.  David Blackwell, one of the few racers to have won the All England back to back took the Masters age group ahead of Tom Ondrusz and Robbie Beak with John Williams taking the oldest Masters age group!

The 2007 All England will be remembered for the performances not of the racers that won but for the actions of those that did not. Many of the racers that came out on the first run abused their right to a free run down the second course as they made a mistake, missed gates and then rejoined before coming out again before the finish. While on snow racers do not get this luxury of a free run down the second run if you come out, to blatently disregard the rules means a talk with the TD and sanctions including financial penalties and suspension.  Despite Snowsport England having warned racers of the threat of sanctions should misbehaviour take place, little was done immediately yet two racers have now been spoken to regarding their actions.

Racer Ready firmly believes that firm action needs to be taken to stamp out this evil before it has a chance to take effect. Coaches that are still competing have a huge role to play in setting an example to the younger and more impressionable racers that are both in their charge and under their influence. The Senior and Experienced racers as well need to set an example in the conduct given on the slope. For their part the authorities also need to act firmly and swiftly and carry out their warnings if racers break the rules.