Four U16 athletes will represent Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) at the 2023 Canada Winter Games. Hannah Jensen, Maika Lennox-King, Marek Novak and Nick Kokot all punched their tickets to Prince Edward Island by distinguishing themselves from Jan. 26 to 30 in the B.C. Alpine Teck Open at Sun Peaks Resort.
The Sun Peaks contest included skiers from all over the province and served as the qualification event for Team B.C. at the Canada Winter Games.
Jensen was the most impressive Whistlerite of the bunch statistically, finishing second and third at both giant slalom races in Sun Peaks. She is ranked second in Team B.C. qualifying with 540 points, behind Golden's Roxy Coatesworth who earned 600 points.
Lennox-King is seventh in that category with 368 points due to her fourth-place result in giant slalom and ninth-place effort in slalom.
Novak ranks third in the men's qualification standings with 500 points, behind Douglas Hunter of Sun Peaks (600 points) and Fernie's Maddox Johnson (520 points). Novak made a strong case for Team B.C. with a third-place performance in slalom, fourth in one of his giant slalom races and tenth in the other.
Nipping at his heels is Kokot (485 points), who finished second in the giant slalom event on Jan. 29 and seventh in the same discipline one day prior.
This year, the Canada Winter Games will take place from Feb. 18 to March 5 and involve over 3600 participants. It will be the third time that Prince Edward Island has hosted the event, with the first happening in 1991.
