An Easter Sunday seventh at Le Relais, Quebec was enough to secure the overall ladies title in the Coupe Pontiac GMC Cup for Georgian Peaks Ski Club's Erin Mielzynski.
The 17-year-old Guelph resident capped off a highly successful ski season with the 517 points and a $5,000 scholarship from the sponsor.
"It was kind of a surprise. I got the leader bib last night and it's actually really nerve-wracking to know everyone is looking up to you when you go down the hill," Mielzynski said after the race. "I told myself to just go out and ski my best and see what happens.
"It's definitely motivating to me as I pursue my goal of eventually making the Canadian Alpine Ski Team and some day representing my country at the Olympics. I have been skiing really well lately and I definitely hope all of this momentum carries into next season," she said.
Geared towards the development of Canada's future champions, the Pontiac GMC Cup series featured 16 races in four provinces during the 2007/08 season.
Earlier this month, Mielzynski and fellow Georgian Peaks skier Larisa Yurkiew of Owen Sound gave their club additional bragging rights at the Nor-Am Cup Racing Series.
In the Nor-Am Cup, the top two men’s and ladies’ ski racers in each discipline at the end of the season earn World Cup spots for the following year.
With a sixth-place showing in the Super G at Whiteface on March 12, Yurkiw finished in second place overall with 220 points.
"I am definitely happy to have secured a World Cup super G spot for next season. I didn't ski to my full potential in today's race, but fortunately I got enough points for the spot," said the 2008 World Junior Championships silver medalist. "And after yesterday's DNF, there was a bit of pressure on me to perform today."
Mielzynski was second in the super combined event and second overall for the series.
"It feels amazing. It's kind of hard to believe," she said in a post-race interview. "At the beginning of the season I was really happy with how I was doing in super G and slalom and it's just really exciting to accomplish this."
Over the weekend, she also took gold at International Super Series Alpine Canada Women's Slalom Ski Race, Stoneham, Quebec.
Mielzynski told Alpine Canada she drew inspiration from current 2010 Acceleration Team ski racer Marie-Michèle Gagnon (Lac-Etchemin, QC), who won the Nor-Am Cup Ladies super-combined title last season and finished second in the super G while a member of Quebec's provincial ski team.
"I can remember last year when Marie-Michèle Gagnon did it. I remember thinking about how amazing I thought that was. I never thought that I would do something like that one year later. I didn't even know I was in the running," said Mielzynski.
