Squamish鈥檚 Mikayla Martin charged to a fourth-place finish in the downhill race at the Canadian National Ski Championships on Saturday (March 22) in Whistler.
Starting 12th聽in the field of 25 top female racers from across the country, the Howe Sound Secondary School (HSSS) Grade 11 student ripped through the foggy and challenging course at top speeds of around 100 km/h.聽
Martin finished her run in one minute, 10.15 seconds, right behind 2014 Olympian Marie-Pier Prefontaine. Martin held a podium spot until the final national team racer and 2014 Olympian Erin Mielzynski laid down the fastest time of the day and bumped Martin to fourth. Martin was the second-ranked U18 skier out of six participating at the event.
鈥淚t was awesome and so much fun,鈥� Martin said. 鈥淢y legs were so tired and I was going so fast into the finish area, I just couldn鈥檛 stand up.鈥�
The downhill was the second of six races in the series, which crowns Canadian champions for 2014 in downhill, super-G, giant slalom and slalom. For more results, visit .
Martin wasn鈥檛 the only local female hitting the slopes last weekend as sisters Robyn and Heidi Schenk competed at the Nancy Greene Festival on Friday and Saturday (March 21 and 22) at Sun Peaks.
The youth event saw 540 competitors with kids born in 2009 up to 2002 hitting the slopes. Robyn, competing in the 2003 girls division, placed 15th in the dual slalom, 17th in moguls, 23rd in the kombi and finished second overall in the speed event with a top speed of 76 kilometers per hour.
Heidi, who competed in the 2006 girls division, finished 12th in the dual slalom, fourth in moguls, 23rd in the kombi and tied for third overall in the speed event with a top speed of 69 km/h.
For results from that race, visit .
