Day four of the English Alpine Ski Championships saw some nail biting racing in the NJR GS (National Junior Race - Giant Slalom) with Scottish athlete Paul Henderson beating off a field of over 70 racers to claim the men's overall title whilst Anna Henderson (16, Dunstable) was the fastest British skier in the women's race. ...
Paul Henderson put in a storming first run, clocking the fastest overall time, with Jordan Fellows (17, Walsall) the 2nd fastest British skier after the first run. In the second run Paul gave it everything to put in another impressive run  earning an overall winning time of 1:42.15, beating his nearest competitor Manuel Hug (Liechtenstein) by 0.30 seconds with Luka Krsmanovic (Croatia) finishing off the overall podium. In the 2nd run, Jordan narrowly held onto his position of 2nd fastest British skier, with Ollie Davies (17, Guildford) 3rd fastest - just 0.20 seconds separating the two.
Paul Henderson said: “I am really, really happy. My first run was good, my second run was trickier, but I still managed to have a good time and make it down the fastest! I was very nervous in the start gate and I really wanted to do it for my coaches at Ambition Racing and see all our hard work pay off. I'm really happy.”
In the ladies race, after claiming three English titles this week, things didn't go quite to plan for Darcie Mead (18, Kingston Upon Thames) who skied out on the first run after 'attacking too much'. Megan Jenkins also abandoned the course on her first run, and Scottish racer Cara Brown had a fall, and despite getting back up, lost at least seven seconds in doing so. Anna Henderson was the fastest British woman after the first run, just 0.3 seconds ahead of Abbie Macey (20, Birmingham). There was no change after the  second run, with Anna Henderson the fastest British skier and second overall in the Under 18 category - a great result for the Ambition team racer. Out of the British racers Abbie Macey finished second and Beth Widdup (19, Pendle) third. Cara Brown put in a fast 2nd run of 56.58 seconds, but it wasn't enough to make up the time she lost in her first run. Veronica Olivieri (Italy) took the overall title with Anna Diaz-Prieto and Marta Jimenez (Spain) finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Anna Henderson said: “I just tried to hammer it on my first run today as I felt I had nothing to lose. I was more tentative on the second run as I have had quite a few DNFs on my second runs today, so I just wanted to finish! It turned out to be a pretty good day, I am really happy with the result.”
In the Under 10/Under 12 Combi on the Adler piste, it was a fun day of racing in the sunshine on a perfectly constructed course set and built by former British racer TJ Baldwin and Alex Reidy. In the U12 girls competition Glesni Catlin (11, Leamington Spa) claimed victory over Sophie Foster (11, Leatherhead) in second and Anastasia Stocker (11, Lymington) in third. For the U10 Girls, Scottish racer Erin Ward finished first, with Sophie Stocker (9, Lymington) finishing second and Katherine Hart (9, East Horsley) third.
In an exciting and close U12 boy's competition, the top three finishers were split by only 0.08 seconds. Ted Slade (11, Dartmouth) stood atop the podium again this year with a winning time of 1:03.29.Following their podiums earlier this week in the Giant Slalom, Tommy Dade (11, Great Yarmouth) finished second in 1:03.35 and Oliver Pollitt (11, Salford) third in 1:03.37. For the U10 boys competition, Luca Carrick-Smith (Tignes) skied a superb 2nd run under pressure to take the win after failing to finish run 1. Alex Ogden (9, Wroxham) took second with Tobias Kadrnka (8, Cobham) third. . Â
In last night's Team Parallel Slalom, in what was an exciting evening of head to head racing under the floodlights,  Ambition Racing took the title after beating the Scottish Ski Club in the final. Sandown Park Ski Racing Club had strong performances all round with  'Sandown A' beating 'Sandown B' to take 3rd spot
The English Championships continue tomorrow with the FIS NJR Slalom on Adler and U14/U16 Super G on Stelvio.
Snowsport England would like to thank the continued sponsorship and support of the event by Energiapura, Vital Marketing, Rossignol, Endsleigh, SkiBartlett, Ski Bitz, SkiRacing Supplies, Racer Ready and Fine Designs.
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For more information on the Championships or Snowsport England visit the Snowsport England website http://www.snowsportengland.org.uk/ or the English Alpine Championship website at http://www.englishalpinechamps.org.uk. Alternatively, follow all the action on Facebook and Twitter - @SnowsportEng and #AlpineChamps15.