Allan Bishop
Special to the Chief
Howe Sound Secondary School (HSSS) snowboarders are back with plaques from their Provincial Snowboarding competition.The snowboarders faced some fierce competition at the Panorama, Invermere races February 25 to 28, but still managed to hold their own.
In the women's category Christie Cunneyworth placed sixth with a time of 1:32.89; 22nd place went to Danielle Dornik at 01:43.50; 28th place was Coral Conway running a time of 1:47.78; Aislinn Merkle came in 31st with 1:48.78; and 40th place went to Tiffany Sprenkles at 1:50.41.
In the men's category Carrey Cunneyworth came in 21st at a time of 1:37.57; 30th place went to Cole Nelson with 1:40.42; 39th place was Kyle Salter at 1:42.30; 40th place went to Hunter Nelson running a time of 1:42.77 and Mason Pollock was 57th with 1:46.57.
With the fresh snow, conditions on the racecourse were favorable, but the competition was steep.
"There was stiffer competition from snowboarding towns that weren't at Zone, like Fernie," said teacher coach Dave Gregr.Christie Cunneyworth agreed the competition was fierce.
"The girls that were beating me were more into it. They were wearing spandex and I was wearing a baggy boarding jacket," she said. "All the races were really close, especially between 2nd and 7th place with each finisher only about 0.2 seconds apart from the last person."
Dornik also felt the heat at the Provincials.
"I was really nervous because I knew these were the top teams," she said. "I didn't know how I'd do."
Gate training with the Whistler Valley Snowboard Club was very beneficial, according to team members.
"They taught us how to be more confident when riding," said Lauren Hughes.
Gregr wanted expressed gratitude to everyone who helped the trip to Invermere come together.
"I would like to thank Greg Gardner for his generous donation of the van and the parent volunteers, Rick and Carmen Merkle and Bob Cunneyworth, for driving and helping out."
