Voisin makes World Cup finals

The Daily Inter Lake

CARDRONA, New Zealand — Whitefish freestyle skier Maggie Voisin scored a run of 82 points on Sunday at Cardrona Alpine Resort to finish fourth in the women’s slopestyle finals at the Winter Games NZ, the first FIS World Cup stop of the 2017-18 season and a precursor for the Winter Olympics.

Voisin was in third after throwing down the 82 in her first run, but the score didn’t hold up, with Switzerland’s Giulia Tanno scoring a second run of 86.60 to vault into second place, bumping Voisin off the podium.

Estonia’s Kelly Sildaru won the event, scoring a 90 in her first run to easily outpoint the field.

Sweden’s Jennie-Lee Burmansson was third with an 84.60.

Voisin earned 50 World Cup points for her finish.

Missoula’s Darian Stevens just missed out on qualifying for the finals, finishing 10th place with a score of 73.00.

The top eight skiers advanced.

The next World Cup event is scheduled for Nov. 25-26 in Stubai, Austria. The Winter Olympics begin in February.

Whitefish’s Heavirland, U.S. finish fourth at World Cup

BELFAST, Ireland — The U.S. national women’s rugby team finished in fourth place at the Rugby World Cup on Saturday, dropping the bronze medal match to France, 31-23.

The Eagles outscored France 13-12 in the second half but couldn’t overcome a slow start that didn’t see the team score a try until the waning seconds of the first half.

Whitefish’s Nicole Heavirland played every minute of the tournament for the U.S., helping the Eagles to their best finish since 1998 when they finished second. The U.S. won the first World Cup in 1991.

“Our girls fought until the last minute as always,” U.S. captain Tiffany Faaee said in a press release. “This is only a glimpse of what these girls can do, we know we have so much more to give.”

New Zealand won its fifth World Cup later in the day, beating England 41-32.

Reilly, Eskimos drop

second in a row

EDMONTON, Alberta — The Saskatchewan Roughriders (4-4) dominated Edmonton 54-31 on Friday night to hand the Eskimos (7-2) their second straight loss after a 7-0 start to the season.

Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly, a 2003 Flathead High School grad, was 15 for 26 passing for 160 yards with two interceptions but added a rushing touchdown.

Edmonton will play next in back-to-back clashes against provincial neighbors Calgary, the first game in the Labor Day Classic next Monday.

Grant finishes season 2nd in USA Cycling Pro XCT

WINDHAM, N.Y. — Columbia Falls mountain biker Rose Grant wrapped up the USA Cycling Pro MTB Cross Country Tour in second place, continuing to climb in the rankings despite a tough season that saw some major injuries.

Grant finished 270 points, 110 points behind champion Kate Courtney of California. Grant won the tour stop in Missoula this season and finished on the podium in Vermont and Massachusetts.

The second place finish marks a continual rise for Grant, who finished last season in seventh place and the 2015 season in 10th.

Hill ranked 8th nationally in new poll

Glacier High School senior Annie Hill is ranked as the eighth-best girls cross country runner in the nation in a new poll.

DyeStat, one of two major national prep cross country polls, ranked Hill eighth in its Preseason Girls Top 100 poll, citing her experience in big races.

“She’s a veteran of national championship races and has won back-to-back titles at NXR Northwest,” the website said in its explanation.

Last week, Hill was ranked 14th in the preseason Flo50, a prep poll run by competing website FloTrack.