Freestyle youth in Sun Peaks took home numerous awards at a competition at Olympic Park in late March.
Sun Peaks Freestyle Club athletes were invited to Calgary on an invite-only basis from March 22 to 24 for junior nationals hosted by Freestyle Canada. Athletes competed in big air and Slopestyle, making podium appearances for their skills.
Ryder McKenzie-White won gold in the under-16 Slopestyle category. As the competitor with the highest score for all age categories, his performance earned him the title of overall national junior Slopestyle champion. He also came fifth place in big air for the under-16 category.
Marigold Campbell won gold for under-16 girls in big air and Wren Grunling earned gold in big air and slopestyle.
Other notable results include Cooper Basko’s silver for Slopestyle in the under-14 category and fourth place for big air. Jackson Atkinson came in 11 place for under-16 Slopestyle and seventh in big air. Quinn Basko ranked fifth for under-14 Slopestyle and sixth for big air.
Ryder McKenzie-White, Jackson Atkinson and Cooper Basko then headed to Whistler from April 7 to 10 for an invite-only senior national championship.
Jason White, parent of Ryder McKenzie-White and board member for Sun Peaks Freestyle Club, wrote over email that it was an “astronomical feat” for them to get an invite to the event and is a testament to their performance on the Canada Cup tournaments throughout the season.
“[Senior] nationals is the biggest event of the year, with invites going out to World Cup and even Olympic athletes. This will be a big eye-opener for the boys, but they have been training in the big park in Whistler and are ready to see how they stack up against Canada’s best,” White said.
Editor’s Note: In a previous version of this story, SPIN wrote “Quinn Basko came in 12 place for under-14 Slopestyle and in 17 place for big air.” This has been corrected as those scores reflected Basko’s performance among all age groups, rather than the under-14 age group. One of our values at Sun Peaks Independent News is to be accurate every time and if we fail, to be transparent in our corrections. We apologize for any inconvenience or misunderstanding this omission may have caused.
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