Regionals Snowsports Report
Cranbrook Snowsports – Sydney Interschools 2022
In the last week of the School holidays, 68 boys from K-12 participated in the Sydney Interschools Championships, held in Perisher. This impressive group of Cranbrook students took to the slopes on skis and snowboards, armed with fantastic attitudes and total commitment. After two years of disrupted Snowsports seasons, Cranbrook bounced back to the first year of post-Covid Interschools competition. With bright and sunny days and even brighter spirits, Cranbrook Snowsports for 2022 kicked off with vigour and impressive results! All competitors are to be congratulated for their enthusiasm, excellent attitudes and hard work.
Sunday – Redlands Cup – 10th July
To begin the Snowsports season this year, many of our boys competed in the Redlands Cup in Thredbo. Cranbrook went exceptionally well in the first race of the season, with multiple team and individual podiums. In Division 2, Joel Droga won GOLD for his individual performance, while his teammate Jamie Toll was right next to him on the podium with an individual SILVER. Our Division 2 team of Joel Droga, Jamie Toll, Beau Remond and Jude Middleditch took home team SILVER, with an impressive performance from all members of the team. In Division 1, William Hupfau took home an individual SILVER as well. Our Division 1 team of William Hupfau, Zachary Parker and Oscar-Louis Antflick won GOLD. This was a great day on the slopes and a great way to kick off the season.
DAY 1 – Monday 11th July
Day 1 of the Interschools competition began under perfect ‘blue bird’ conditions, resulting in some cracking performances by our youngest Cranbrook competitors. We saw the Division 5 Alpine team Charlie Roberts, James Cowan, William Holt and Oliver McKelvey bring home the first GOLD medal of the competition. A HUGE congratulations goes to Charlie Roberts who took out the overall win individually. Stellar performances were also made by our other two Division 5 Alpine teams who came 5th and 6th. We saw another win with the Division 6 Ski Cross team, seeing Xavier Fern, Orlando Fern and Wynn Au also taking home the team GOLD. Xavier also earned an individual BRONZE. With some strong competition on mountain, congratulations also goes to the Division 5 Mogul team of Hugo Croft and Rhys Au, taking home the team BRONZE medal in this event. What a fantastic effort and great start to the week. All of these young boys showed grit and determination – many competing for the first time.
DAY 2 – Tuesday 12th July
Day 2 proved just as successful for our youngest Cranbrook participants. We saw a mirror image of awards for the Division 5 Ski Cross teams taking home another GOLD with Charlie Roberts winning the individual SILVER. Congratulations also goes to our Division 6 Alpine boys who proudly added a SILVER medal to their collection! Day 2 saw the first of our Senior snowboarders race in the Snowboard GS event. With an overnight low of -10, competitors faced some icy conditions on course. The Division 3 team of Oscar Croft, Milo Gibney and Ziggy Edwards showed terrific teamwork, placing 4th overall. In Division 2, our Snowboarders put down some notable times, with Lochie Wotherspoon qualifying for State as an individual, placing in the top 15. In Division 1, Sam Gipson placed 10th individually, also earning him an invite to State.
DAY 3 – Wednesday 13th July
Day 3 gave the skiers a rest and saw all Snowboard Cross divisions compete. With a light dusting of fresh snow and another spectacular ‘blue bird’ sky, the GS course was fast and in its prime! Again, with some strong competition on snow, the snowboarders showed great skill, encouragement and determination, resulting in the Division 3 team taking out 5th place and Division 2 boys placing 6th. Individual performances from Lochie Wotherspoon and Sam Gipson earned them another invite for at State, in this event as well. A fantastic effort by all.
DAY 4 – Thursday 14th July
As our youngest competitors headed home to Sydney, our skiers in the older divisions took to the mountain for their races. Thursday was packed with competition and results.
A two-man Division 1 team of Laidley Dowling and Thomas Ferster competed on the Moguls course, placing 4th, earning them a spot in the upcoming State championships. Laidley produced an exceptional performance that won him individual GOLD! The Division 1 Ski Cross had two full teams racing. The Cranbrook A Team of Laidley Dowling, William Hupfau and Oscar-Louis Antflick took home a team SILVER, with Laidley winning an individual BRONZE. Our Cranbrook B Team of Thomas Ferster, Zachary Parker and Owen Magee came 7th place in this highly competitive division.
Division 2 Alpine saw 4 of our teams compete, with the A Team of Joel Droga, William Roberts, Jamie Toll and Edward Maier coming in 5th place and securing their spot in the State Championships. Division 2 Moguls saw Cranbrook’s A Team of Joel Droga, Jude Middleditch and Thomas Southwell-Keely also achieve another 5th place result and a spot through to the State Championships.
Ski Cross is always a challenging race to complete, especially when you’re up against 40 other teams. Cranbrook had 6 teams, with a total of 16 athletes competing in the Division 3 Ski Cross. The A team of Sach Edwards, James O’Rourke and Jamie Samios came in at an impressive 7th place. The 3 other teams fought hard and achieved many personal bests, two more of the teams coming in the top 20. Two top individual performances in this division will see James O’Rourke and Remy Phillips progress through to the State Championships.
Day 5 – Friday 15th July
On the final day of competition, the Division 1 Alpine team of Laidley Dowling, William Hupfau, Oscar-Louis Antflick and Thomas Ferster took home a team SILVER, with Laidley also winning an individual SILVER. What a fantastic way to finish off the week in our top division!
The Division 2 Ski Cross event had 5 Cranbrook teams with 13 competitors. Our A team of Joel Droga, Jamie Toll and William Roberts came in 5th place, sending them through to the State Championships. Joel Droga had an honourable performance, as he was the 4th fastest competitor across the field.
In the Division 3 Alpine, which was the most populated competition this year in Interschools, our boys managed to get amongst the top of the competition. The A team of Jack Flintoft, Dominic Despot, Sach Edwards and Jamie Samios came in 9th place. While our B team of Joshua Yee, Grayson Cayzer, Charles Cowan and Remy Phillips placed in 10th. Our C team of Jamie Walker, Christopher Harris, Oscar Parsons and Ziggy Edwards came in 13th place. These are great results within a very large cohort of racers. Sach Edwards and Remy Phillips both secured invites for the State Championships, with their top 15 individual performances.
Overall, after the week of competition, this means that Cranbrook will be sending 17 full teams to State, across all events, with 9 additional individual qualifications. A total of 31 boys will proudly represent us all in Perisher in August. This is a truly exceptional outcome, with nearly half of Cranbrook’s Regional Team progressing to the next level of competition.
Thank you to all the supportive families who made it possible to have such a strong contingency at the snow this year. Thank you to the boys for embracing the Cranbrook spirit on the mountain and giving their very best. Every single boy who competed in these races, regardless of their placing, should be extremely proud of themselves for participating and representing the school with excellence.
Good luck to those who made it through to the State Interschools Competition in week 6, who will be joined by a huge number of Cross-Country skiers as well! Well done boys. The future of Cranbrook Snowsports is certainly looking promising!
Co-Captains, Sam Gipson and Zachary Parker and Mrs Erickson