Strong results in Australia-New Zealand Cup

Following the final Park & Pipe events in Cardrona last week, the Australia New Zealand Cup (ANC) has wrapped up for 2023.

Despite some weather-related cancellations, Aussie skiers and snowboarders scored strong results on both sides of the Tasman.

CROSS COUNTRY
Beijing Olympian Seve de Campo finished atop the ANC standings on the back of a pair of victories at Perisher in July. He finished well clear of Switzerland’s Lauro Braendli while Noah Bradford finished third.

Swiss skier Flavia Lindegger produced strong results in August’s events at Falls Creek to finish third on the overall pointscore, but she couldn’t topple the consistency of Katerina Paul and Darcie Morton who took the top two positions.

Overall Men: Seve de Campo 265 (AUS), Lauro Braendli 221 (SUI), Noah Bradford 210 (AUS)
Overall Women: Katerina Paul 320 (AUS), Darcie Morton 260 (AUS), Flavia Lindegger 180 (SUI)

FREESKI PARK & PIPE
Having recently switched from Canada, Kai Martin took slopestyle gold at The Remarkables in his first-ever event under an Australian flag, which saw him take an early lead in the standings. However he was eventually overhauled by Kiwi Luca Harrington at the final event in Cardrona.

Lucinda Laird (8th) and Mabel Ashburn (9th) were the highest-placed Australian women.   

Current Men: Luca Harrington 150 (NZL), Kai Martin 136 (AUS), Lucas Ball 125 (CAN)
Current Women: Madeleine Disbrowe 160 (NZL), Sylvia Trotter 110 (NZL), Mischa Thomas 100 (NZL)

SNOWBOARD PARK & PIPE
World Junior Championships athletes Jess McGregor and Milo Botterill were the highest-ranked Australian athletes in the Snowboard Park & Pipe ANC.

McGregor finished in fifth place on 90 points, just 10 points from a share of second place, while Botterill finished 21st overall

Current Men: Dongheon Lee 100 (KOR), Taiga Hasegawa 100 (JPN), Zephyr Lovelock 86 (NZL)
Current Women: Seoung Eun Yu 160 (KOR), Mari Fukada 100 (JPN), Cool Wakushima 100 (NZL)

SKI CROSS
A series of races at Mt Hotham in August has decided the 2024 Ski Cross ANC.

In the men’s event, Douglas Crawford and Liam Martin shared victories, however it was 2018 and 2019 champion Crawford who finished atop the standings ahead of his 24-year-old rival.

Japan’s Lin Nakanishi scored a win and a second place in the women’s events to lead the pointscore ahead of race two winner April Wynn with Jesse Quinn in third.

Crawford and Wynn have now earned personal World Cup quota places for 2023/24 courtesy of being the highest-ranked Australian or New Zealand competitors.

Overall Men: Douglas Crawford 180 (AUS), Liam Michael 145 (AUS), Alfred Wenk 130 (AUS)
Overall Women: Lin Nakanishi (JPN) 180, April Wynn 132 (AUS), Jesse Quinn 130 (AUS)

SNOWBOARD CROSS
As was the case with ski cross, the Snowboard Cross ANC featured a pair of races at Mt Hotham last month.

The men’s event was extremely close with different winners in each race and six different riders filling the six podium positions.

Ultimately it was Czech rider Jan Kubicik who claimed top spot from 22-year-old Declan Dent, with two-time Olympian and defending champion Adam Lambert third. World Junior Snowboard Cross Team Champion James Johnstone won race two and finished fifth overall.

Johnstone’s World Junior Championships teammate Josie Baff was a dominant force in the women’s event, backing up a second place finish in the first race with a victory in the second to claim her second title in as many years.

As a result of being the highest-finishing Australian athletes in the ANC, Dent and Baff have secured personal World Cup quota spots for the 2023/24 season.

Amber Essex matched her 2023 result of second one the back of a first and third place, while 2020 champion Mia Clift was third overall.

Overall Men: Jan Kubicik (CZE) 129, Declan Dent 125 (AUS), Adam Lambert 120 (AUS)
Overall Women: Josie Baff 180 (AUS), Amber Essex 160 (AUS), Mia Clift 125 (AUS)

ALPINE
A series of cancellations have seen the events at Coronet Peak over the past week form the 2023 Alpine ANC season.

Olympians Laurie Taylor (slalom) and Christian Borgnaes (giant slalom) topped the men’s standings while Nina Astner (slalom) and AJ Hurt (giant slalom)

Louis Muhlen-Schulte scored second place in the first giant slalom race and was pipped off the podium by the final skier in the second. He was the highest finishing Australian or New Zealand athlete in the discipline, securing a personal World Cup quota spot.

Madi Hoffman also picked up a GS top five, while Sammie Gaul’s sixth place in the second slalom event was enough to get her into the top 10 on the overall standings.

Slalom Overall Men: Laurie Taylor 160 (GBR), Sam Maes 160 (BEL), Jimmy Krupka 150 (USA)
Slalom Overall Women: Nina Astner 122 (AUT), Valentina Rings-Wanner 120 (AUT), AJ Hurt 100 (USA), 100 Nora Brand (GER)
Giant Slalom Overall Men: Christian Borgnaes 140 (DEN), Fadri Janutin 140 (SUI), Louis Muhlen-Schulte 130 (AUS)
Giant Slalom Overall Women F: AJ Hurt 160 (USA), Alive Robinson 160 (NZL), Ava Sunshine 150 (USA)

MOGULS
Two of Australia’s leading athletes scored top spot on the ANC standings for moguls in a field dominated by Australian and Japanese athletes at Perisher.

Olympic champion Jakara Anthony competed in her first ANC since 2020 and won both events, while Beijing teammate Cooper Woods collected a win and a second place to finish in front of the other men’s victor Jackson Harvey.

Overall Men: Cooper Woods 180 (AUS), Jackson Harvey 150 (AUS), Taketo Nishizawa 100 (JPN)
Overall Women: Jakara Anthony 200 (AUS), Haruka Ihara 140 (JPN), Rino Yanagimoto 130 (JPN)