Queenstown, New Zealand – The final day of The Air New Zealand FIS Southern Cup series took place Tuesday in perfect conditions at Coronet Peak ski area in southern New Zealand, and the American men once again dominated, taking first, second, third and fourth in the men’s giant slalom races.nMonday’s winner, Will Gregorak, of Longmont, Colo., did it again today with a winning time of 1:43.02, followed by teammates, 2010 Olympian Tommy Ford (Bend, Ore.), Warner Nickerson (Gilford, N.H.) and reigning Junior World combined champion Colby Granstrom (Lake Stevens, Wash.). The top kiwi was Ben Griffin in 10th place with a time of 1:44.43.
Hosted by Japan, the FIS Southern Cup traditionally attracts the strongest ski racing fields in the Southern Hemisphere along with a deep pool of racers from north of the equator who make New Zealand their August training grounds.
In the final race of the series, Norway’s Chloe Margrethe Fausa won the women’s giant slalom with a time of 1:46.50 as a follow up on Monday’s win by Christina Geiger of Germany, who placed second Tuesday.
The top kiwi in the women’s contest was Sarah Jarvis with a time 1:49.63, followed closely by Lucie Tait-Jamieson.
A strong international field competed over the past four days at The Air New Zealand FIS Southern Cup Series. In four races, the U.S. Ski Team men hauled nine of 12 podium spots. The highlight at home for the kiwis was Griffin’s second place finish Monday in Giant Slalom. Jarvis narrowly missed the podium, placing fourth in slalom on Sunday.
The U.S. men’s team had solid performances in Sunday’s slalom, garnering the top five places with Granstrom finishing first with a time of 1:24.27. Andrew Wylie was the top kiwi with a combined
time of 1:28.14.
For the women, the winner on day one was Lena Duerr of Germany with a time of 1:30.18. The top kiwi was Taylor Rapley with a time of 1:36.22, which put her in ninth place.
Day two of the women’s slalom saw Mizue Hoshi or Japan beat out two Russians, followed closely by Jarvis in fourth. On the men’s side it was a battle between the Americans and the Canadians with David Donaldson of Canada (1:31.01) edging out 2010 Winter Olympian Tim Jitloff of Reno, Nev. (1:31.16), who has focused his attention in training this year to slalom. Griffin was the top New Zealander finishing in eighth with a time of
1:34.43.
Day three saw the start of the GS portion of the series with Griffin breaking up the strong American
showing by finishing second with a time of 1:38.90. Griffin was right behind Gregorak.
“Monday’s results for Ben were fantastic and have given him two FIS points placings this season at Coronet Peak,” said Snow Sports New Zealand Alpine Manager James Lazor.
In the women’s GS, Germany’s Geiger led her teammate Fanny Chmelar. Jarvis finished in sixth position as the top New Zealand racer.
“The Southern Cup Japanese FIS series at Coronet Peak was a huge success and we really enjoy the great
working relationship that we have with Japan and in particular with Tom Matsuoka from the Sports Unity
group,” said Lazor.
The JUCY NZ Alpine Cup commenced during The Air New Zealand FIS Southern Cup Series and the current
leader of the men’s division is Griffin with 152 points, while the current leader of the women’s group is Jarvis, 73 points ahead of Rapley and 74 points ahead of Tait-Jamieson. The next race in this series is the New Zealand National Alpine Championships Giant Slalom race at Coronet Peak on the 30th of August.
Following the conclusion of Tuesday’s races, the U.S. Ski Team winds down a nearly three-week training camp later this week. The women’s U.S. Ski Team returned home following the Continental Cup races last week to refuel before moving to Chile in early September.