Great Scot December 2019 Great Scot 158_December_ONLINE | Page 48

SPORT
SNOWSPORTS BOYS ARE
CHAMPIONS AGAIN IN 2019
After a slow start the snow came thick and fast, to produce a
fabulous season on the slopes this year – and this is somewhat of a
metaphor for how the season was for our snowsports team, too. This
year we assembled our biggest-ever team – 97 competitors – who
competed in a total of 93 teams in nine disciplines in three divisions
across the Senior School.
After two solid weekends of training we were under way with the
cross country event at Mount Buller, traditionally not our strongest
event. But the boys dug deep and some solid results were achieved
with a podium finish in every event.
Alpine events have always been our strength, and this is where
we began to claw back important results to get us in front of our
long-term rivals, Melbourne Grammar School. After four days of
racing, Scotch and MGS were one point apart going into the final day.
Whoever won the day would win the Victorian Interschool Snowsports
Championships. This year it was our boys! Scotch defeated MGS 200
points to 190.
To win the championship requires depth of talent in every event,
discipline and division, right from Year 7 to Year 12. This is extremely
difficult to do, but we had a great team this year. Snowsports requires
this significant breadth of contribution to win, and it’s so great that a
boy in Year 7 contributes just as significantly as a boy in Year 12.
Overall results for Scotch at the Victorian Interschools included
nine teams in first place, seven teams in second place and eight
teams in third place. Scotch also had three state champions – Angus
Hill (Year 11), William Atwell (Year 9) and Ed Hill (Year 7) – who were
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Great Scot Issue 158 – December 2019
placed first in moguls, division one, two and three, respectively. Tamar
Stafford (Year 11) won the Bernd Greber Cup, which is awarded to
the Interschools competitor who is most successful across all skiing
disciplines. From our 93 teams, 43 teams qualified through to the
nationals event.
A number of the teams won their place by only tenths of a second.
In one case it was a matter of just 0.15 seconds across six individual
runs, highlighting the importance of every team member giving every
last effort.
We have two expert coaches in Cam Bolton (World Cup and Olympic
snowboarder) and Harvey Edmanson (’17), the current Australian
number one giant slalom rider, who have contributed to this fine-tuning
of race-craft and strategy to strengthen both individual and team results.
We would also like to acknowledge the hard work of snowsports winter
sport program TIC, Mr Olivier Marquet, and Mr Peter Riley.
Our winter sport program provides valuable on-snow and dryland
training, preparing boys for the season. The program has enabled
boys to develop to a level that they most likely would never have been
able to reach, had it not been for the opportunities and coaching we
can provide as a school. This, in conjunction with support from the
snowsports parents’ auxiliary, the Snowsports Club, provides every
Scotch boy with the opportunity to ski or snowboard.
Snowsports is alive and well in our School, and with the gear
dried and packed away for another year, we are already planning
and preparing for 2020.
CAMERON CUTCHIE – TIC, SNOWSPORTS