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Splawinski makes big splash as Ã山ǿ¼é wins first combined ski title in 19 years

Published: 22 March 2010

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STONEHAM, Que. - Sophie Splawinski of Montreal, won gold in a giant slalom and silver in the slalom to capture the individual championship and lead the Ã山ǿ¼é alpine ski team to the Quebec university overall title, Sunday, at Stoneham Mountain Resort, located about 25 kilometres north of Quebec City.

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It marked Ã山ǿ¼é's first ski title since 2005 when the Martlets finished first overall but the team's first combined men's and women's title since 1991. It was only the fourth time in 22 years that the overall champion did not win either the men's or women's banner. Ã山ǿ¼é, which place second in both the men's and women's divisions, finished atop the combined standings

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Splawinski, a 24-year-old atmospheric science freshman, who previously graduated from Penn State University, was first of 39 racers who competed over the season. She became the third woman in QSSF history to reach the podium in all 10 races over the season, matching the feat achieved by Montreal's Claudine Pomerleau in 1996 and equaled in 1998 by Kimberly Bonnell of Bishop's.

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"Winning the individual title was a goal that I wanted to accomplish but it got completely overshadowed by winning the (overall) banner," said Splawinski, who was a member of the Canadian national team at the age of 17.

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"Winning the banner is something we share as a team, something that we have been dreaming about and training for all season. Right from the start, we knew we had a chance to win it all and we took every race as another step toward that goal. To end up achieving it was really wonderful."

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Splawinski finished second and third in the season-opening slaloms at St. Sauveur (Jan. 22-23), won gold in both giant slaloms at Mt. Sutton (Feb. 6-7), swept both giant slaloms at Le Massif (Feb. 13-14), placed third and second in the two slaloms at Le Relais (Feb. 27-28) and won gold and silvers medals in the final competitions of the season at Stoneham (March 19-20).

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Splawinski finished first of 39 women with 1,150 points overall, culled from her top eight performances. Marie-Michel Belanger of the Montreal Carabins was second with 985, followed by Concordia's Amélie Lemelin (945). Other Ã山ǿ¼é Martlets in the final Top 10 individual standings were Kate van Berkom (tied for sixth) of Ottawa and Madeleine de Lotbiniere-Basset (ninth) of Delta, B.C.

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On the men's side, Laval swept all three podium spots in race for the individual championship. Simon Mannella finished first of 58 competitors in the final standings with 1,200 points, followed by Philippe Crete-Belzile (1,000) and Pierre-Nicolas Tanguay (940). Ã山ǿ¼é's top racer was Michel-Olivier Saucier, a native of Vaudreuil-sur-le-lac, Que., who tied for fourth (800). He was accompanied by four Redmen teammates in the top 12, including Christian Vining (sixth) of Montreal, Eli Sheiner (eighth) of Ottawa, Alexander Moon (10th) of Chelsea, Que, and Andrew Quinn (12th) of Winchester, Mass..

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Ã山ǿ¼é finished first of five teams to win the overall title with 10,044 points, finishing ahead of Laval (9,778), Montreal (9,373), Concordia (4,057) and UQAM (2,312).

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In the women's standings, Montreal prevailed as Quebec champions with 5,560 points, followed by Ã山ǿ¼é (5,258), Laval (3,117), Concordia (2,125) and UQAM (725).

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In the men's division, Laval won the championship banner with 6,661, followed by Ã山ǿ¼é (4,786), Montreal (3,813), Concordia (1,932) and UQAM (1,587).

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QSSF Alpine Ski Champions by Season

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Combined

Women

Men

2010

Ã山ǿ¼é

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

Laval

2009

Laval

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

Laval

2008

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

2007

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

2006

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

2005

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

Ã山ǿ¼é

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

2004

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

Ã山ǿ¼é

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

2003

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

Ã山ǿ¼é

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

2002

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

Ã山ǿ¼é

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

2001

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

Ã山ǿ¼é

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

2000

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

Ã山ǿ¼é

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

1999

Bishop's

Bishop's

Bishop's

1998

Bishop's

Bishop's

Bishop's

1997

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

Ã山ǿ¼é

1996

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

1995

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

UQAM

1994

Laval

Laval

UQAM

1993

Laval

Ã山ǿ¼é

UQAM

1992

Laval

Ã山ǿ¼é

UQAM

1991

Ã山ǿ¼é

Concordia

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

1990

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

Concordia

²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô

1989

Concordia

Concordia

Concordia

1988

(no combined title)

Concordia

UQAM

1987

(no combined title)

Laval

UQAM

1986

(no combined title)

(not available)

(not available)

1985

(no combined title)

(not available)

(not available)

1984

(no combined title)

(not available)

(not available)

1983

(no combined title)

Concordia

Ã山ǿ¼é

1982

(no combined title)

Sherbrooke

Laval

1981

(no combined title)

Sherbrooke

Ã山ǿ¼é

1980

(no combined title)

Ã山ǿ¼é

Ã山ǿ¼é

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SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

Communications Officer

Athletics & Recreation

Ã山ǿ¼é

514-398-7012 (Tel.)

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