On March 20, Alpine Canada officially announced the five athletes selected to represent the Maple Leaf at the FIS Ski Cross Junior World Championships later this month in Passo San Pellegrino, Italy.
The squad is made up of three Whistlerites and two Albertans. Jack Morrow and Nicholas Katrusiak grew up in the Sea to Sky, while Emeline Bennett is a Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) alum supported by the local Old School Initiative.
The Sea to Sky trio will be joined by Charlie Lang from Calgary and Konnor Kimball of Edmonton.
“I’m very happy to congratulate the athletes, as well as the coaches, clubs and families who have helped them reach this level,” said Dave Ellis, Alpine Canada’s high-performance director for ski cross, in a press release. “This group has experienced this event, and they know what a tremendous opportunity it is for our best junior-aged athletes to test themselves against the world's best.”
The 2023 Junior Worlds team qualified through a selection criteria that considers world ranking, world ranking by age, as well as performance in the Nor-Am Series. All five athletes competed for Canada at the 2022 World Juniors in Veysonnaz, Switzerland, while Morrow also raced at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games.
Current national team members who have won World Juniors gold include Whistler's Marielle Thompson in 2013, plus two Crankbrook athletes: India Sherrett in 2015 and Zoe Chore in 2019.
The World Juniors are scheduled to take place March 27 and 28.
