WHISTLER, BC (April 5th, 2008 - ALPINE CANADA ALPIN) – Canadian ski racers had eight top 10 results in four races at the Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup today, led by Alix Wells (Prince George, BC) finishing in fifth place in the Ladies K1 giant slalom.

Wells finished the one run GS against some of the top 11 and 12-year-old Ladies ski racers in the world in a time of 48.59 seconds.

“I’m happy with my race today. I definitely wanted to do better after yesterday’s kombi where I fell, hiked and was eventually disqualified,” said Wells. “My goal was top 15, maybe top 10, so fifth is really good.  I also want to thank coach Mike Stratton, who has helped me a lot this year.”

American Mikaela Shiffrin got her second win in as many days, finishing first in a time of 46.27 to win by over a second. Japan’s Ayumi Muranaka placed second with USA’s Hana Saydek also getting her second straight podium at the Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup, finishing third.

ONTARIO’S FRASER BRUCE SIXTH
Fraser Bruce (Toronto, ON), from the Craigleith Ski Club, grabbed sixth place to be the top Canadian in the Men’s K2 slalom race.

Bruce finished the event for 13 and 14-year-old’s in a two-run combined time of 1:37.57 in snowy and foggy conditions on the Upper Dave Murray piste.

“I was fine with it, it really didn’t affect me at all,” said Bruce about the weather conditions.

“For me making ‘Team Canada’ was a huge goal. So going on to get today’s result feels really good,” Bruce said.

“Today was just my day among the Ontario racers. We have a lot of depth on our team and we are really pushing each other, skiing a lot of the same events throughout the season. We are just trying to make each other better every day and working toward being the best in the world.”

Austrians grabbed the top two spots in the Men’s K2 slalom, led by Christian Juffinger, who finished in a two-run combined time of 1:31.01 followed by teammate Paul Zimmerman, who was over two seconds back. Slovakia’s Heiko Pedan was third.

LAMOUREUX SIXTH IN LADIES K2 SL
Katerine Lamoureux (Mont Tremblant, QC) had the fourth fastest second run in the Ladies K2 slalom to move up 13 spots after the opening run, finishing sixth.

Lamoureux ended up with a two-run combined time of 1:36.52.

“I am really proud of my performance today and a little surprised to be honest. I finished ninth in the slalom at K2 nationals, so this is a huge improvement. This is more like it,” said Lamoureux.

“Slalom is my favourite discipline. I like the movement and the fact you have to adjust and react as you go,” she added.

It was Germany’s Andrea Filser leading the way, winning in a two-run combined time of 1:31.49 followed by American Greta Byrne with Germany’s Christina Goessner in third place.

“This is great for me. This is a huge event, the biggest of my life, and I won. It’s really a great feeling,” Filser said.

REVELSTOKE B.C.’S BEHNCKE PLACES 10TH
In the Men’s K1 one-run giant slalom it was American Max Hall winning in a time of 49.45 followed by Slovakia’s Roman Murin and Sho Miyazaki of Japan.

“It was a fun course. It’s flat at the top so you have to really work the skis to build up speed.  You could tuck pretty much the whole time until the bottom pitch,” said Hall.

“Slalom is actually my best event, so I’m going for another gold tomorrow,” he added.

Peter Behencke was the top Canadian, taking tenth spot.

“I’m pretty happy with how I did today considering that so many guys had trouble at the bottom of the course.  I thought it was a challenging course, but a good one,” Behncke said.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:
WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 5TH, 2008 – LADIES – K1 GS

1	9	SHIFFRIN Mikaela	USA	46.27   (1)
2	15	MURANAKA Ayumi	JPN	47.63   (2)
3	30	SAYDEK Hana	USA	47.94   (3)
Top Canadian
5	35	WELLS Alix	CAN	48.59   (5)

WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 5TH, 2008 – MEN’S – K2 SL

1	7	JUFFINGER Christian	AUT	45.05   (1)	45.96   (1)	1:31.01
2	16	ZIMMERMANN Paul	AUT	46.55   (2)	46.54   (2)	1:33.09
3	4	PEDAN Heiko	SVK	47.72   (9)	47.96   (8)	1:35.68
Top Canadian
6	46	BRUCE Fraser	CAN	48.98 (14)	48.59 (11)	1:37.57

WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 5TH, 2008 – LADIES – K2 SL

1	29	FILSER Andrea	GER	44.98   (2)	46.51   (1)	1:31.49
2	25	BYRNE Greta	USA	44.69   (1)	47.26   (3)	1:31.95
3	8	GOESSNER Christina	GER	46.01   (5)	46.77   (2)	1:32.78
Top Canadian
6	49	LAMOUREUX Katerine	CAN	48.11 (19)	48.41   (4)	1:36.52

WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 5TH, 2008 – MEN’S – K1 GS

1	26	HALL Max	USA	49.45   (1)
2	7	MURIN Roman	SVK	50.08   (2)
3	1	MIYAZAKI Sho	JPN	50.52   (3)
Top Canadian
10	52	BEHNCKE Peter	CAN	51.54 (10)

LIVE TIMING & COMPLETE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: http://canski.live-timing.org/

ABOUT THE 2008 SIERRA WIRELESS WHISTLER CUP
Hosted by the Whistler Mountain Ski Club (www.wmsc.info), the Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup is the only international ski racing event for 11 to 14 year olds in North America. World Cup champions to have participated in the Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup include Canadians Erik Guay, Britt Janyk and Emily Brydon as well as Austria’s Benjamin Raich, Slovenian Tina Maze and Anja Paerson of Sweden.

“Best in the world… at every level”