03/02/2008 SUSSC take Kings crown!! The SUSSC Dream Team successfully beat Team Natives at the 4th round of the Kings Ski Club Southern dual slalom race series to secure their position at the top of the league. The four round dual slalom race series sees teams of 5 racers from a number of universities across the south and south-eastern region compete head-to-head in a relay style race. Southampton have taken two mixed teams, a ladies team and a board team or two to all of the events and have had mixed success at each round. The first round saw most of the SUSSC racers competing in their first competitive skiing/boarding events, though copious amounts of Ex (the energy drink kindly provided by one of our sponsors) and the odd beer calmed any nerves and saw the mixed first team taking 3rd, the ladies 5th and the mixed second team and boarders, 10th and 5th respectively. Round 2 got off to a bad start for the Dream Team as a costly mistake by Dan Marsh in the first race saw the SUSSC first teal placed in the bottom 7 for the second half of the session. This meant that even by wining the remainder of their races, they could only manage 7th that round. The other SUSSC teams also faired less well in groups with more unis competing than in the first round. The third round saw a repeat of Dan’s round 2 mistake, but luck saw the Dream Team into the top 7 and after an epic battle with Natives in the 1st/2nd ski-off took a narrow win thanks to some great runs from Gemma Harris and Tom Bowling against racers at least twice their size. An equally good day was had by the 2nd team who took 5th place, the ladies who did amazingly well and climbed to 2nd and the boarders who managed 6th. So to the final round and the 1st team were leading the series by 2 points ahead of Kent and Natives who were tied for second. Fortunately, Natives beat Kent in an earlier race and SUSSC had an easy run to the final race. So it was down to this one race. SUSSC win and we would have the title. Natives win and we would draw the series and have to have one final race to decide a champion. Gemma started for SUSSC, out of the gate with her usual fire, opening up a one and a half gate lead over her counterpart. Richard Turk was next and solidly held SUSSCs advantage despite Natives false starting. This meant that Dan’s opposite was held back by officials momentarily. Oli Nelson also did a great job keeping us in it leaving Tom the task of bringing it home against Natives’ fastest and most unorthodox skier. Tom crossed the line a mere half gate ahead giving the Dream Team the round and series titles. It was a shame that the other SUSSC teams couldn’t find their rhythm with some unfortunate crashes taking their toll. However, in usual Kings style it was the prize-giving that mattered most with rewards for all competing teams to enjoy on the journey home. SUSSC aim to continue their run of success at the Kings national finals in May where competition from Kent and Natives will be joined by teams from Newcastle and Exeter among others. Also on the cards are the BUISC indoor races and the range of competitions at the Main Event in Saalbach, Austria at Easter. Bring it on!!! |
