Queenstown, New Zealand – Ben Griffin, of Ohakune, and Sarah Jarvis, of Whakapapa, led the way for New Zealand on Thursday in the opening races of the Australia-New Zealand Cup FIS races, besting their Australian counterparts.nGriffin, who doesn’t specialize in slalom, finished 10th in 1:44.69, besting Queenstown teammate Adam Barwood, who is showing fine form as one of New Zealand’s top up-and-coming young alpine racers and who stopped the clock in 1:45.95, finishing 11th. Queenstown’s Tim Cafe was third among the kiwis in 1:46.08 for 12th place overall.

America’s David Chodunsky finished at the top of the podium in 1:39.31, followed by Canada’s Patrick Biggs (1:40.04) and Great Britain’s Noel Baxter (1:40.31) in difficult conditions that slowly improved as the day wore on. The top Australian on the men’s side was Callum Brown in 18th.

“The weather has been unsettled lately, so that provided an extra challenge for all the racers today,” said Snow Sports New Zealand Alpine Manager James Lazor. “We were fortunate to get the race in, and I was encouraged by some of the results, particularly Ben and Adam.”

Jarvis, who has led the Kiwi contingent most of the season, was the top Kiwi woman, finishing in ninth in 1:48.54. Taylor Rapley was the next best kiwi in 14th in 1:50.61, followed by Lucie Tait-Jamieson in 16th (1:50.88). The top Australian was Lavinia Chrystal in 12th (1:49.60).

The Swiss women dominated the podium on the day as Wendy Holdener (1:43.25) and Nadja Vogel (1:44.45) were one-two, followed by Norway’s Lene Loeseth in third (1:45.82).