Ruby Wells rose above her U17 peers on Thursday to claim gold at the RockShox Canadian Open Downhill (DH) in Creekside.
Wells was the only girl to break the four-minute, 20-second barrier (4:18.810), leaving silver medallist Addison Rutherfurd (4:23.755) and bronze medallist Raina Logar (4:28.023) in her dust. OG Canadian Open DH winner Arleigh Kemp just missed out on hardware in fourth (4:29.318).
"My favourite track of the year so far, racing on 1199 did not disappoint!" said Wells on her Instagram account. "Good to race from the top this year, even though all the drops are still closed for us, still a sick track."
In the U17 boys' race, Lewis Laird and Sebastien Harrisson went down to the wire. Ultimately New Zealand's Laird (3:35.334) edged out his Pembertonian opponent (3:35.376) as Boston Bryant represented the United States in third (3:40.643). Addison's brother, Camden, broke the beam in fourth (3:40.911) one year after he narrowly avoided hitting Luke Stopanski but won anyway.
"[So stoked], P2 in 1199," Harrisson wrote on social media. "Super close to winning by 0.042 [seconds] but got loose in one section, my back wheel slipped on the rock but I’m really happy to make it down with a good time this year."
Zach Eaton (3:50.316) topped the open men's podium in another tight battle with Bayley Douglas (3:50.351), and Taylor Boehm finished third (3:52.646).
A few Sea to Sky parents anonymously told Pique Newsmagazine of their frustration with how Thursday's contest unfolded. Live timing did not function properly, resulting in an approximate 45-minute event delay and the first four girls to drop being unaware of their placements until midway through the subsequent boys' race. Onsite TV screens also malfunctioned.
Crankworx did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Click here for more results.
