Queenstown teenager Taylor Rapley (18) has won gold in two
national junior slalom races in the United States.
Rapley, who is a member of the Queenstown Alpine Ski Team,
has been training full-time in Vail, Colorado, under former
US ski team member Dan Stripp, since early December.
Her father, Beau Rapley, said it was her sixth winter, having
spent the last three years between New Zealand, the United
States and Canada.
The two gold medals at Crested Butte, in Colorado, would
reduce her overall world slalom ranking.
She was the clear winner in both races.
On January 16 and 17, she won the Millennium Bank Colorado
Junior Ski Cup and overall title in the first national junior
race in 1min 20.82sec, beating Mary Sackbauer (USA) in 1min
21.78sec and clocking a 56-point result.
It was her best slalom result.
In the second race she finished in 1min 26.87sec, beating
Celine Guilmineau (USA) in 1min 27.13sec and Sarah Williams
(USA) in 1min 27.70sec.
Rapley said Taylor was happy with the result.
"To top two races in slalom back-to-back is a good
achievement, so she's pleased with that," he said.
Stripp is the Vail Ski Club's head women's ability coach and
has worked with the US ski team's women's World Cup squad.
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