THE BLUE MOUNTAINS, Ont. — Reece Howden and Kevin Drury returned to the podium Saturday on a four-medal day for Canada at a ski cross World Cup event at Craigleith Ski Club.
Howden, from Cultus Lake, B.C., finished second behind Germany's Florian Wilmsmann after taking gold the previous day. Drury, from Toronto, claimed his second consecutive bronze.
In the women's final, Switzerland’s Fanny Smith won gold, ahead of Courtney Hoffos of Invermere and Abby McEwen of Edmonton.
“Today was really great. Everybody did so well,” said Howden, who moved within 12 points of the top spot in the season standings. “Seeing these two women on the podium was awesome, and shoutout to Gavin Rowell, who skied really fast and battled all day, coming back strong from a difficult result in yesterday’s race.”
Drury’s 18th career podium finish moved him into sixth place in the Crystal Globe standings.
“I’m not sure what happened today,” said a laughing Drury. “It was like Reece and I switched places. Somehow, out of nowhere, my starts were fast, and there was Reece making all the passes. When I heard that the women were second and third, I was fired up for our finals. What do you know? Reece and I also went second and third.”
It was McEwen’s first career podium appearance in 57 World Cup starts.
“I’m feeling a lot of gratitude right now,” she said. “It’s been a journey, and I’m so stoked to be on the podium. The conditions weren’t prime today, and I just accepted it and made the best of things.”
Rowell, from Prince George, finished a career-best sixth.
The 25-year-old Rowell advanced alongside Howden through the eighthfinal and quarterfinal rounds. However, in the semifinal — racing against Howden, Drury, and Daniel Paulus of Czechia — he crashed near the top of the course and finished fourth.
Rowell went on to place second in the small final, finishing sixth overall out of 32 competitors.
“I laid down some really good qualifying runs that had me feeling great going into the race days,” Rowell said in an email to The Citizen. “Unfortunately, due to a technicality, I didn’t have the day I envisioned in the first race (he finished 20th on Friday). However, it really motivated me for Saturday’s race, and I had a good battle out in the rain.
“A crash in my semifinal kept me out of the big final, but I am proud of how I skied and fought with the big names to earn a sixth.”
Rowell was coming off a 12th-place finish on March 1 in Gudauri, Georgia, his highest World Cup placing until Craigleith.
The opportunity to race in his home country doesn’t come every year on the World Cup circuit, and Rowell was elated to post an all-time best result on race day.
“It was awesome to race in Canada,” said Rowell. “The crowd at Craigleith was so welcoming and encouraging. Having our friends and family in attendance is super special, as most of our races are overseas.”
The next big event for the national team is the ski cross world championships, scheduled for March 22-23 in Engadin, Switzerland. Rowell’s results at Craigleith qualified him for the event.
— With files from Alpine Canada and The Citizen
