Gilbert-Dore wins silver for McGill at Mt. Sutton

By Earl Zukerman

SUTTON, Que. -- Marie-Christelle Laplante, a McGill sophomore from Sherbrooke, Que., won a giant slalom race on the Quebec university alpine circuit at Mt. Sutton, just south of the Eastern townships, Saturday.

Laplante, who had previously won bronze in a Feb. 2 slalom at Mont Blanc, is McGill’s first gold medalist in six races this season. The 5-foot-1 management major completed her two runs with a combined time of one minute, 52.87 seconds, to edge out Marie-Pier Pedpetenev from the Montreal Carabins, who was clocked in 1:53.22. Emily Cousineau, also from the Carabins, took the third podium spot in 1:54.86

Two other McGill skiers captured medals over the weekend.

Megan Kidston, a kinesiology junior from 100 Mile House, B.C., won bronze in Sunday’s race. She posted a time of 1:50.77, which was 2.52 seconds behind Pedpetenev, the race leader. Kidston now has three medals on the season, including a pair of silvers.

On the men’s side, Vincent Gilbert-Dore, a Montrealer, garnered a silver medal in Sunday’s competition. The management freshman completed his two runs in 1:44.88, fractions of a second behind gold medalist Maxime Dorval of the Carabins (1:44.33).

Gilbert-Dore almost won Saturday’s race as well. He was leading after the first run but he lost a ski on his second attempt in a race also won by Dorval.

McGill’s Christian Vining just missed the podium both days, finishing fifth and fourth, respectively.

The ski team has two weekend’s remaining on their schedule, including a special slalom at Owl’s Head, Feb. 23-24, and the conference championship meet at Mont Garceau, Mar. 14-15.

RACE #5 STANDINGS
(Giant Slalom at Mont Sutton, Feb. 16/08)

WOMEN:
1. Montreal 700 pts.
2. McGill 466
3. Laval 263
4. UQAM 152
5. Concordia 0

MEN:
1. Montreal 735 pts.
2. McGill 470
3. Laval 353
4. Concordia 203
5. UQAM 111

MEDAL WINNERS & McGILL s TOP FINISHERS
----------------------------------------------------
PLACE / NAME / SCHOOL / COMBINED TIME

WOMEN:
1. Marie-Christelle Laplante, McGill, 1:52.87
2. Marie-Pier Podtetenev, Montreal, 1:53.22
3. Emilie Cousineau, Montreal, 1:54.86

10. Louise Pick, McGill, 1:57.66
11. Sarah Marshall, McGill, 1:57.83
12. Carter Berton, McGill, 1:58.24


MEN:
1. Maxime Dorval, Montreal, 1:47.69
2. Louis-Pierre Deslauriers, Montreal, 1:50.72
3. Yann Girard, Montreal, 1:50.98

5. Christian Vining, McGill, 1:51.12
12. Tyler Hunt, McGill, 1:54.21

-----------------------------------------------------

RACE #6 STANDINGS
(Giant Slalom at Mont Sutton, Feb. 17/08)

WOMEN:
1. Montreal 710 pts.
2. McGill 497
3. Laval 269
4. UQAM 103
5. Concordia 48

MEN:
1. Montreal 610 pts.
2. McGill 483
3. Laval 475
4. Concordia 208
5. UQAM 57

MEDAL WINNERS & McGILL s TOP FINISHERS
----------------------------------------------------
PLACE / NAME / SCHOOL / COMBINED TIME


WOMEN:
1. Marie-Pier Podtetenev, Montreal, 1:48.25
2. Emilie Cousineau, Montreal, 1:49.83
3. Megan Kidston, McGill, 1:50.77

6. Louise Pick, McGill, 1:51.67
7. Carter Berton, McGill, 1:51.70
11. Sarah Marshall, McGill, 1:52.86


MEN:
1. Maxime Dorval, Montreal, 1:44.38
2. Vincent Gilbert-Dore, McGill, 1:44.48
3. Marc Chartier, Laval, 1:44.81

4. Christian Vining, McGill, 1:45.25
14. Gabriel Maldoff, McGill, 1:49.21