Prefontaine, Mielzynski, Jasiczek collect final Canadian titles

MONT STE. ANNE, Canada – Marie-Pier Préfontaine successfully defended her Canadian National Championship giant slalom title on Friday, putting the finishing touch on a great season.

The spring-like conditions continued but couldn’t stop the ladies from charging hard for the top step of the podium.

“It is a nice way to end the season,” expressed Préfontaine. “Absolutely I wanted to win, but the first run ended up being quite close with Val (Grenier) being right there behind me in the standing, which pushed me to go hard in the second run.”

Préfontaine won the Sports Experts Canadian National Championship with a combined time of 2:11.94. Candice Crawford took second place with a combined time of 2:13.52 and Erin Mielzynski finished third at 2:13.87.

“Being the Canadian Champion is pretty cool. I am happy to have the title two years in a row. The Nationals Championships gives the opportunity to see who is coming up and provides tighter competition for the title.”

Préfontaine has seen much success over the season. She was the only Canadian to qualify for the ladies’ giant slalom at World Cup Finals in Meribel, France, where she finished 13th.

The Junior National Championships were awarded on Friday, with rising star Candice Crawford taking the giant slalom title in Friday’s race. Teammate Valerie Grenier finished second and Stephanie Gartner finished third.

Mielzynski took home the Sports Experts Canadian National Championship slalom title the following day also at Mont Ste. Anne.

Mielzynski, who had three top-10 finishes during this year’s World Cup season and was the power house that lead the Canadians to a silver medal in the Team Event at the 2015 World Championship in Vail-Beaver Creek, won her first National Championship title on Saturday.

With the spring-like conditions continuing in Quebec, the field yet again fought through unpredictable snow conditions, where more then half of the ladies did not finish the first run.

Mielzynski finished with a combined time of 1:43.80. Second place was awarded to Crawford, for her second podium in two days, and Jocelyn McCarthy finished third.

“Today was all about fighting your way down,” said Mielzynski. “It was pretty rough track, but a fun hill and you had to fight top to bottom. I have never won a Canadian Championship so it is definitely an exciting day.”

When asked for her thoughts on the significance of the National Championships, Mielzynski shared, “It is a big title to win and I have always wanted to win that. I think Nationals is a big deal, it is an opportunity for older and younger athlete’s to race together. I always look forward to Nationals as you get to see your old coaches, and it’s one of the few times the whole country is together.”

Crawford won the Junior Canadian National Championship slalom title in Saturday’s race, followed by McCarthy in second and Alexa Dlouhy finishing in third.

In the men’s race, Michal Jasiczek of Poland surprised the field by winning both the Canadian National Championship slalom title and the Junior Canadian National Championship title with a combined time of 1:37.84. The Canadian team was proud to see Michal capture the gold, as his father Dariusz Jasiczek, President of Hermes Management S.A., is a long-time partner and supporter of Alpine Canada Alpin.

National team member Erik Read finished second with a combined time of 1:37.84 and Julien Cousineau, who recently announced his retirement at the end of this season, finished third.

Behind first place Jasiczek, Patrick McConville finished in second place and Broderick Thompson took home third in the Junior Canadian National Championships slalom.

Release and photo courtesy of Alpine Canada