Cultus Lake/Innichen Italy/ Calgary (Alpine Canada) – Cultus Lake’s Reece Howden was dominant Thursday racing to first place at the FIS Ski Cross World Cup in Innichen, Italy. With the sun breaking through and the Dolomites peering down, Howden led from start to finish in each heat including the finals. The win vaults Howden to the top of the FIS Ski Cross World Cup standings heading into the holiday break.
“This feels great! I’ve had a slow start to the season and really happy to see some success,” said a smiling Howden. “This is a tough race. I had some consistent starts and was able to hold on from there. Really proud of the team and staff, we’ve all been working really hard for success and it’s starting to payoff. This is a great way to go into the holidays and I’m excited to get home to see my parents and brother and to celebrate a little.”
This is Howden’s first win and third podium this World Cup season and his first win ever at Innichen. This is his 12thcareer World Cup podium and his seventh first place finish in 35 World Cup starts.
Also today, at the FIS Alpine World Cup in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, the men raced a night slalom under the bright lights. Erik Read (Canmore, AB) advanced to the second run and finished 22nd. Asher Jordan (North Vancouver, BC) placed 37th, while Liam Wallace (Calgary, AB) and Simon Fournier (Monreal, QC) didn’t finish their run.
In women’s ski cross at Innichen today Courtney Hoffos (Windermere, BC) and Hannah Schmidt (Ottawa, ON) battled into the small final with Hoffos finishing 7th and Schmidt 8th. Marielle Thompson (Whistler BC) and India Sherret (Cranbrook, BC) missed out on advancing to the semifinals.
On the men’s side Brady Leman (Calgary, AB) placed 13th, Kris Mahler (Canmore, AB) 14th and Kevin Drury (Toronto, ON) rounded out the Canadians racing today in 26th.
Next Race for Reese, Ski cross has a break from World Cup racing until January 20th in Idre Fjäll, Sweden.
