Miss K. Guy Wins Giant Slalom

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30215, 21 August 1963, Page 9

Miss K. Guy Wins Giant Slalom

(From Our Own Reporter) QUEENSTOWN, August 20. The Canterbury and South Island women's combined champion. Miss K. Guy, struck top form today and won the women’s New Zealand giant slalom championship at Coronet Peak. She thus regained a title she won on the same field in 1961. This was tthe second New Zealand title to be won by a Canterbury competitor since the championships began on Saturday. The Canterbury men’s combined champion, G. Nevell (Canterbury Winter Sports), won the slalom championship on the opening day. Nobody deserved to win the women’s giant slalom more than the cheerful, diminutive Miss Guy, of North Canteroury. In both the slalom and downhill events she fell badly, finishing fourth in the slalom and a very disappointing eighth in the downhill This destroyed any hopes she might have had of winning the coveted combined championship and she finished eighth with 50.01 points lost

Even today her victory was not as smooth as it might have been. She lost about ssee when She misjudged a gate in the giant slalom, but over the remainder of the course she was able to return the very fast time of Imin 40.9 sec. Runner-up in the women’s giant slalom was another former New Zealand champion, Miss A_ Latham (Wanganui), who also skied magnificently, finishing only o.2sec behind Miss Guy. Third place went to the outstanding young Ruapehu competitor, Miss E Keane. Fast Course The giant slalom course, which contained 47 gates, was set by the chief instructor at Coronet Peak. Otto von Almen, a former multiple Swiss champion. It was extremely fast and a number of competitors crashed heavily, but without injury, at some of the icy traps. A layer of powder snow 2in thick, which fell during the night, was swept away by the opening runners, uncovering the icy surface underneath Originally scheduled to start at 11 a m.. the programme did not get properly under way until almost 2 p.m. Repeating his brilliant performance in the downhill, P Quinn (Stratford) won the men's giant slalom, recording the exceotional time of Imin 32.95ec. His control over the vast course was superb. By virtue of his wins In the down-

hill, combined and giant slalom championships, he must now be considered the leading ski-racer in the country. However, his win today was by no means overwhelming. P Willis (Canterbury Winter Sports) gave one of his best performances to come home runner-up. only I.2sec behind Quinn. A. Addison (Wakatipu), the southern districts champion, gave a competent performance to finish third in Imin 34.65ec. Three leading contenders for the title, G. Nevell (Canterbury Winter Sports), W. F. Hunt (Ruapehu) and A. Coberger (Christchurch), did not quite come up to expectations, finishing fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. After his costly and spectacular fall in the downhill. Nevell in particular was probably a little over-cautious R. S. A. Chaffey (Canterbury Winter Sports), who crashed and failed to finish in both the downhili and the slalom, managed to finish the giant slalom course, but his time was poor A former Olympic representative. he is obviously out of practice. Womersley Withdraws One of Canterbury's big hopes, R. Womersley (North Canterbury), had not recovered from the leg injuries he suffered in the downhill and did not compete. Womersley is the present South Island champion The national final of the W. D. and H. O. Wills (New Zealand). Ltd., sponsored interclub teams giant slalom championship was won. as expected by the strong Ruapehu trio, and they now become the first holders of the Wills Challenge Cup. The team, which consisted of Misc E. Keane. W Hunt, and O. Learkin, finished the course in a combined time of smln 4.3sec—7sec ahead of

Wanganui, the runner-up. Canterbury University, the winning team of the CanterburyNelson zone final, raced well, but had to be content with third place. Its combined time was smin 20sec. T. Dunlop (Otago), the run-ner-up in the national combined championship, set the fastest time of Imin 35.95ec for the course. Hunt, an Olympic skier, was second fastest in Imin 36.1 see. Miss Keane recorded Imin 42.25ec. Miss A. Latham (Wanganui) and Miss Guy recorded Imin 43.45ec and Imin 48.1 sec respectively. Because of the loss of a day through bad weather and the subsequent withdrawal of several competitors, the men's jump may not now be held. A decision had not been reached late last evening, but the race referee (Mr S. B. Boyd) said there was every likelihood of it being cancelled. Results were:— Giant Slalom Men (43 entries).—?. Quinn (Stratford. New Plymouth), 1:32.9, 1; P. Willis (Canterbury Winter Sports Club), 1:33.7. 2; N. Addison (Wakatipu), 1:34.6, 3: G. Nevell (Canterbury Winter Sports), 1:35.4. 4; W. Hunt (Ruapehu), 1:35.7, 5; A. Coberger (Christchurch). 1:373. 6. Women (14 entries).—K. Guy (North Canterbury). 1:40.9. 1; A. Latham (Wanganui), 1:41.1. 2; E. Keane (Ruapehu). 1:42.1. 3: P. Earle (Wanganui), 1:47.4. 4; S. John (Stratfoid). 1:50.6. 5: J. Shiel (Otago). 1:55.1. 6. Sponsored Teams' Race.— Ruapehu (E. Keane 1:422, W Hunt 136.1. O. Clearkin 1:46). 5:4.3. 1; Wanganui (A. La’ham 1:43.4, P Earle 1:43. I. Mclntosh 1:42.9). 5:11.3 2; Canterbury University (K. Guy 1:48.1. R. Lewis 1:49 3. S. Summers Smith 1:42.6), «:», 3; OUgo (J. Leslie 231.6, If. Chance 2:39.4. T. Dunlop 1 35.9), 6:463, 4.