Three Sun Peaks Freestyle Club (SPFC) athletes were dubbed junior national champions at the Canadian Junior Nationals in freestyle skiing, hosted at Calgary Olympic Park, Alta., from March 14 to March 16.
Marigold Campbell became a junior national champion, best overall from U16 women competitors at the event. Jackson Atkinson was champion of men’s U16 and Soneva Lott won for U14 Women’s.
Another Junior National event occurred for Moguls and Ariels in Le Relais, Que. over the weekend of March 19 to March 23, in which SPFC’s Logan Brown attended.
Getting invited to events at this calibre is already impressive, Marigold’s father Marc Campbell said, with seven athletes from SPFC attending the two. Three coming out best in their categories was an even bigger accomplishment for the team to celebrate.
SPFC at the Junior Nationals events
Receiving enough points in Timber Tour level events earns athletes a spot at Junior Nationals, where competitors in the average age group of around 13 to 16 compete.
Most competitors after that age can qualify for Canada Cups, Marc Campbell explained.
Across three categories for freestyle skiing, Half Pipe (HP), Slopestyle (SS), and Big Air (BA), Campbell, Atkinson and Lott were able to achieve the most points compared to other competitors in their categories.
In each, Atkinson was 10th in HP, 2nd in SS and 2nd in BA for men’s U16, a category in which two other SPFC athletes Wren Grunling and Frank Dusik competed.
With his overall win, Atkinson said he feels great.
“Right now, my main goal is to make it to the provincial team,” he added. “This summer I am going to Wy’East Academy. I will ski most of the summer. Huge Thank You McSporties, mom and dad, coach Justin and my teammates.”
Grunling was 12th in HP, 18th in SS and 4th in BA, while Dusik came out 15th in HP, 10th in SS and 29th in BA.
Lott became a champion of U14 women’s with 2nd in HP, 3rd in SS and 4th in BA, a category in which SPFC’s own Quinn Basko received 4th in HP, 7th in SS and 2nd in BA.
“I feel very proud of myself,” Lott said. Looking toward her future, she described skiing as her life, intending to do it as long as she can.
The only representative of Sun Peaks in her category, Campbell made the podium twice with 4th in HP, 3rd in SS and 2nd in BA.
“It felt really cool and I loved being up on the podium with some of my best friends,” she said. “It’s always more fun to share the moment with them.”
Going forward, some of her goals include X Games one day and being a part of team Canada.
“I just hope my skiing will inspire the next generation of young female skiers,” she added.
Having attended his first Junior Nationals, Brown felt he learned a lot from his competition, especially it being his first time in Aerials.
“I felt like my flipping and my air awareness improved a lot after the experience,” he said. “Overall, it was lots of fun and a great experience that I enjoyed.”
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