At the conclusion of another successful English Alpine Ski Championships in Bormio, six skiers were crowned overall English Alpine Ski Champions in their respective age groups. ...Â
The overall English Alpine Ski Champion for the Men was 17 year old Ollie Davies from Guildford, who had a fantastic Championship winning both the GS and Slalom, whilst 18 year old Darcie Mead from Kingston Upon Thames was crowned Ladies English Champion after winning all three disciplines - GS, Slalom and Super G. The runners-up for the Men were Jordan Fellows (17, Walsall) who finished in second and Oliver Krahelski (19, London) in third. For the Ladies' Beth Widdup (19, Pendle) and Jess Anderson (16, Northamptonshire) shared second spot.
Darcie Mead: “The overall title is a nice thing to win and a big confidence boost ahead of the British Championships in March. I didn't do as well as I had hoped last year, I had quite a few DNFs and crashes, so it is nice to come back this year more confident and do well.”
Ollie Davies: “I'm really happy to have won the overall title, it feels really good. I won it when I was in the Children's so it is nice to come back and win the overall now. I knew if I could put down what I have been doing in training in the races it would work, and it has. The FIS Slalom was the highlight of my week and I got a PB. Today's (NJR Slalom) second run was also good, so I'm really happy with that.”
The Under 16 overall English Champion crown for the boys was awarded to 15-year-old Angus Wills from London who won both the Slalom and today's Super G. For the girls, Alicja Krahelski (15) from London won the Girls Under 16 English Champion title after winning both the GS and Slalom this week. In second spot for the boys was Jack O'Neill (15) and third spot went to Charlie Luke (14, Upper Beeding). For the girls, Hannah Loeffen-Gallagher (14) took second place, with Megan Riley (14, Aylesbury) in third.
Angus Wills said: “It's cool to think I am the best English skier! It was an honour and a fantastic Champs all round.”
Alicja Krahelski said: “It feels good to be Champion. I have watched the other under 16 girls coming here and winning over the last few years, and now it's me and it feels great.”
In the Under 14s category, the overall English Champion title for the boys went to Ollie Weeks (13) from Leamington Spa who won the GS and came 3rd in the Slalom (2nd fastest English racer). The Girls Under 14 English Champion was 13-year-old Sarah Woodward from North Warnborough, Hampshire, who won today's Super G as well as the Slalom. In second place for the boys was George Case (13, Yeovil), with Aaron Troung (13, Ipswich) finishing in third. For the girls, Siena Horton (12, Bromsgrove) finished second, with Arabella Ng (13) and Daisi Daniels (12, Rochdale) sharing joint third.
Ollie Weeks said: “I improved a lot in GS, as last year I was over 5 seconds off the pace. I am really proud about how consistent I was this week after training so well.”
The winner of the Best Club Award went to Glasgow Ski Racing, whilst Best Academy went to Ambition Racing.
Marc Telling, from Ambition Racing said of the award: “I am really pleased that so many of our racers at Ambition contributed to the overall title. It wasn't just one member of the team, or one age group, the whole team put in strong contributions.”
After a hugely successful English Alpine Ski Championships in 2015, it has been confirmed that they will return to Bormio in 2016.
Tim Fawke, Chief Executive Officer at Snowsport England said of this year's Championships: “Bormio has delivered some fantastic conditions, which has enabled us to run some superb ski racing. The support we get from the resort is outstanding and we are looking forward to coming back for the Championships in 2016.”
Jeremy Eaton, Chairman of Snowsport England said: “Once again we have had an amazing Championships with record entries and some outstanding skiing across all ages, from our youngsters to our top level FIS athletes.”