Hudson, Feasey claim titles

Piera Hudson shows her form on the way to victory in the New Zealand giant slalom championships...
Piera Hudson shows her form on the way to victory in the New Zealand giant slalom championships at Coronet Peak yesterday. PHOTO: ROSS MACKAY / SNOW SPORTS NZ
Piera Hudson (Hawke’s Bay) claimed the women’s title and Willis Feasey (Twizel) defended his men’s title at the New Zealand giant slalom championships at Coronet Peak yesterday.

The race included skiers from more than 10 countries and overall race podiums, as well as national championships, were awarded.

Hudson held a convincing lead over her New Zealand competitors from the first run, and she maintained that to secure the New Zealand title for the seventh time in her career.

"It was great racing out there today and it was nice to put down two solid runs, so I am really happy to take home the title again," Hudson said.

Katie Crawford and Michol Hinton rounded out the women’s podium in second and third respectively.

Elise Hitter (Switzerland) was the overall winner with Hudson second and Swiss skiers Lara Baumann and Elena Stoffel equal third.

In the men’s race, Feasey — who just days ago won the New Zealand super G title — had a solid and aggressive first run and was the fastest New Zealander by more than 1sec.

He maintained his lead over closest New Zealand competitors Jack Adams and Keir Roberts to claim the title.

"I am happy to be here, happy to be skiing some of my best turns,” Winter Olympian Feasey said.

‘‘I definitely got some of my best results in this event. I lowered my world ranking down to 44th and part of that was good results at the New Zealand champs."

Ian Gut, of Liechtenstein, was the men’s overall winner with Feasey second and Andreas Soensterud,of Norway, third.

Staff Reporter