THE CANADIAN PRESS
LE MASSIF, Que. — Shona Rubens won her second career women’s downhill title at the Pontiac GMC Canadian ski championships Friday.
The native of Canmore, Alta., finished in one minute 29.58 seconds. Emilie Desforges of Montreal was second in 1:30.30 while Victoria Stevens of Mont-Tremblant, Que., was third in 1:31.33.
Rubens, the two-time defending national slalom champion, said Friday’s result was a pleasant surprise as she hasn’t been focusing on the downhill this season.
"I was on my downhill skies once this past summer," said Rubens, who also won the downhill in 2007. "Coming back and doing downhill after not doing much the past few years has been fun for sure. I realized how much I have missed it."
The women’s downhill was the second race of championships, which continue until March 24 in Le Massif and Mont-Ste-Anne. World Cup medallists Erik Guay and Genevieve Simard are slated to compete at the competition though many of Canada’s other top ski racers are skipping the event.
Rubens spent much of last season rehabbing a left knee injury and focusing on the technical disciplines of slalom and giant slalom.
"It was just hard to do everything all at once so I tried to focus on technical (events) for a couple years," she sadi. "In the next little bit I hope to work in some combined races and maybe some more downhills."
Meanwhile, Dustin Cook of Lac Sainte Marie, Que., captured the men’s junior downhill gold, finishing in 1:26.74.
"This summer I got a lot stronger so that really helped me keep my results up throughout the year. I have had a good season, skiing consistently," said Cook. "I have been pretty consistently doing well at the Nor-Ams and I got a top 10 at world juniors so I am pretty happy about that."
The men’s downhill also served as a training run for the senior skiers with Jeffrey Frisch of Mont-Tremblant, Que., posting the fastest time of 1:25.63 a day after winning the national downhill title.
"It was for sure full race mode for me today," he said. "I felt good, I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it again and win back-to-back."
The men’s super-G and super combined races are scheduled for Saturday at Le Massif while the women’s slalom is slated for the course at Mont-Sainte-Anne.