British Schoolgirls’ Races January 2009

Five girls from Abbey Gate College travelled to Flaine in France to participate in the races this year.
Stephanie Campbell-Woodward in Year 13, Georgina Gardner Stockley in Year 11 and Sophie Caldwell in Year 8 were skiing for Abbey Gate.  Evie Brereton in Year 8 and Zoe Karavasili in Year 7 were skiing for the Snowsports Club team.   After a day’s training in excellent conditions of fresh snow, blue sky and sunshine the girls were ready for action on Monday morning.  The weather was kind to the skiers, although the snow was a little soft and it was rather cold for the support crew at - 7 °C!  In both runs of the Giant Slalom the course was tight which did not favour the taller girls.  However, Georgina and Stephanie scored good times to finish as 8th fastest British-based school team.

The Snowsports team finished in 38th position, out of the 48 teams taking part.  This was good as both Evie and Zoe were competing for the first time.  The best performers of the day were Stephanie, who finished 18th fastest and 5th fastest in her age group, and Sophie, who finished 65th but 4th in her age group.

The afternoon provided great excitement in the head-to-head parallel slalom competition. The Abbey Gate team was one of only 5 school teams to make it through to the quarter-finals and just missed a place in the semi-finals by the length of a ski boot!

The next day, the weather for the slalom was overcast and the snow conditions were soft which was far from ideal. 

Stephanie had to struggle with her nerves.  Starting as number one, she was first racer down the course and skied into a top 15 position.  The cloud dropped for Georginas’s run and unfortunately she straddled a gate but it lifted for Sophie, who blitzed the competition in her age group.  Stephanie had to play it safe in the second run to ensure a team result, finishing 18th and 4th in her age group.  Having just missed out on the medals on the previous day,

Sophie was in no mood for compromise.  She showed great determination and focus on the second run, skiing into 35th position and 1st in her age group, securing another 8th position for the team.

The younger Snowsports team was not so successful on paper, but skied very well.  Evie was the only member of that team to complete all four runs successfully, finishing in 77th place out of 144 in the two day competition.  This was a fantastic result for her first races.  Had Zoe not missed a gate in both the slalom and the Giant Slalom races, she would have finished in the silver medal position for non-registered skiers.  Both girls showed considerable promise for future years and should feel proud of their achievements.
 
At the prize giving ceremony in the Flaine Auditorium on Tuesday evening, Sophie’s Slalom result was so good, that in addition to the Dolphin Cup for the Children 1 Slalom, she also came away with the Argyll Cup for the Combined competition.  Her achievements come as a result of the effort she puts into her fitness levels and training. 

Although this was Stephanie’s last year, the team has the potential to equal, and even improve on their final position as 8th fastest British-based school team on snow next year.