The sun shone brightly, the skies were picture-perfect blue and the snow pack was exactly the way it needed to be for Mount Washington youth ski racer Brynn Johnston to clean up at the Nancy Greene Festival held at Sun Peaks near Kamloops this past month.
Close to 500 ski racers (U6-U12) from across B.C. descended upon the Resort founded by Canadian Olympian Nancy Greene – who was in attendance the entire weekend to cheer these young athletes on. The field was competitive in every age group and many of the Mount Washington Ski Club athletes placed in the top 20-25.
It was seven-year-old Brynn Johnston who stole the show in every event. Brynn made trips to the podium for gold medals given out by Nancy Greene herself in Speed, Jump, Moguls, Kombi and the Slalom events.
The weekend was also a great success for other Mount Washington Ski Club members with Emilly Johnston taking home gold in the Dual Slalom and silver in the Kombi. Luke Hoefer of Nanaimo placed fourth on the Dual Slalom and eighth in the Kombi with Kieran Nilsen of Comox and Kieran Harley placing 12th and 18th, respectively, in those same events.
Ava Langevin of Comox came home with a fifth place ribbon in the Kombi and a seventh place ribbon in the Dual Slalom. Other top finishes included Eric Luchies of Victoria with a 10th in the boys Kombi and the boys’ Dual Slalom and Hailey Nelson of Comox with consistent results of seventh place in both the Kombi and the Dual Slalom.
Sylvi Nymann of Campbell River placed sixth in the Kombi and 10th in the Dual Slalom. Other Mount Washington athletes placed consistently in the top 10 in all events – a real feat considering the competitive nature of the events.
Up next is the last race of the season – the Coast Zone Finals which will be held April 13-14 at Mount Washington Alpine Resort for U12-U16 athletes. The event will host racers from Whistler/Blackcomb, Cypress, Grouse, Hemlock, Seymour and Manning Park.
– Mount Washington Ski Club