Piera Hudson and Willis Feasey Defend National GS Titles

Piera Hudson and Willis Feasey Defend National GS Titles

Queenstown, New Zealand (10 August 2015) – The New Zealand Alpine National Championships & Coronet Cup hosted by Coronet Peak, the official ski area partner of the New Zealand Alpine Ski Team, are currently underway in Queenstown.

The National Championship Giant Slalom (GS) was the first event on the four-day schedule and took place yesterday (Sunday). Piera Hudson (Hawke’s Bay) and Willis Feasey (Twizel) successfully defending their national titles.

It was a hard fought battle for the podium in the men's race with Nick Prebble (Christchurch) leading after the first run with a time of 56.45s and Willis Feasey fractions of a second behind on 56.46s. Willis came through on his second run with a time of 57.82 ahead of Nick in 58.33s. Britain's Jack Gower was the third fastest racer of the day. Adam Barwood (Queenstown), fifth overall, was the third fastest of the NZ racers.

"I'm extremely happy to defend my title," says Willis. "I think my mental process has improved which has helped my overall performance. The hard work is starting to pay off!"

In the women's field Eden Mackay (Auckland) posted the fastest first run with a time of 1:01.36s. Piera Hudson upped her game on the second run, her time of 59:28s leapfrogging her into first place for the national title. Carole Bissig (SUI) finished second overall. Georgia Willinger was the second placed Kiwi and Eden Mackay third of the Kiwi women.

"I didn't ski at my best on the first run so knew I had to pull it out of the bag in run two," explains Piera. "I'm really pleased to take the win and defend my GS title."

Full results can be found here

Back to Back Wins for Willis Feasey

Newly crowned National Giant Slalom Champ Willis Feasey had another good day at the office today (Monday), winning the men's Giant Slalom Coronet Cup held at Queenstown's Coronet peak ski field.

"I have a bit of confidence now and it's really helping my skiing," he commented after the race. "It's also a good sign that I have the consistency in the races that I have had."

Willis' combined time of 1:38.93s over two runs put him ahead of Andreas Zampa (SVK) in second on 1:39.83s and Nick Prebble (NZL) in third on 1:40.53. Willis led the field after the first run and although happy with his position was confident that he knew where he could pick up even more speed on the second run.

His GS results over the past two days, including a win in the National GS Champs yesterday, have seen Willis improve his GS world ranking from 190 to 105.

Carole Bissig (SUI) took the win in the women's GS in a time of 1:43.62 with NZ's Piera Hudson hot on her heels in 1:43.90s for second and Georgia Willinger third on 1:45.52.

Racing continues at Coronet Peak tomorrow with The National Slalom Champs. Piera Hudson is the defending women's champion and Adam Barwood the defending men's champion.

Click here for full results

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