Eight young ladies dropped in to Thursday morning's U15 dual slalom contest, and a pair of locals sped their way into the gold medal final: Cami Bragg and Caileigh Koppang. After a tightly-contested pair of runs, it was Bragg pulling out the victory with a combined time of 50.462 seconds, just under four-tenths ahead of Koppang.
Bragg now adds a third medal to her air DH silver and pump track bronze. The 14-year-old's confidence has steadily swelled over the course of the week.
"It's pretty crazy," she said. "I've got a lot of competition this year, and it's really cool to be able to race such amazing girls and be able to come out with gold."
Koppang is happy with silver after an adventurous day on track in her inaugural dual slalom experience. For reasons unknown, her bike chain nearly fell off during one of her heats, though it did not prevent her from making the final. Then she nearly lost control going into a corner against Bragg, but managed to hold it together and reach the line.
"I'm feeling great," said Koppang. "It was an awesome day today. Lots of rounds and stuff. I'm a little bit tired. There's a lot of fast girls and everyone's really good at biking, and you just got to go for it. You've got to go all out."
Addison Rutherfurd rounded out the podium (52.939), out-dueling Nory Klein in the small final by four-tenths of a second and change.
Results roundup
Much like Bragg and Koppang, Jack MacLeod showed up for the Sea to Sky. The Squamish native locked up a silver medal of his own in the U19 competition, falling fourth-tenths short of victor Aiden Parish (44.291). Daniel Ehret checked in for third place (45.179).
Julia Lofqvist Traum prevailed among U19 women (51.608) as she gained the upper hand over Natasha Miller in their final matchup. That left Quinn Mendonca in third.
In the U15 men's race, Camden Rutherfurd continued a strong week by winning it all (45.372) and joining his sister Addison on the podium. He had to work for it though, as runner-up Colter Knecht was less than nine one-hundredths of a second slower. Boston Bryant earned bronze (46.453) in a battle against his fellow American, Eli Bundy.
Luke and Alex Mallen met in a head-to-head clash during the men's U17 big final, with Luke edging out his brother by a tenth of a second (43.056). It was a win for the family though, as it was for Team USA as Fred Lariviere got the better of Cohen Bundy to complete an American podium sweep (44.613).
Meanwhile, chalk up yet another medal for Transition Factory Racing as Matilda Melton kept her streak alive with gold among U17 women (48.429). Tayte Proulx-Royds found herself in second and Emily Wilson secured third.
Cole Bernier led the men's adaptive top three, followed by Gustavo Ortiz and Scott Patterson in that order.
Only two adaptive women took part in Thursday's event, with Amanda Timm besting Sierra Roth.
Stay tuned as Pique Newsmagazine brings you more Crankworx Whistler coverage.
