Whitefish's Vance medals at Special Olympics
Whitefish’s Cedar Vance competes in a qualifying run for the advanced giant slalom at the Special Olympics World Winter Games on Monday at Hochwurzen ski resort in Schladming, Austria. (Emmanuel Cherlias photo/Special Olympics)
Cedar Vance grins as she poses for a portrait at Big Mountain on Monday, January 23, in Whitefish. Vance is going to be competing in the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)
Schladming, Austria — Whitefish’s Cedar Vance won the silver medal in the women’s alpine skiing advanced giant slalom at the Special Olympics World Winter Games on Tuesday at Hochwurzen ski resort.
Vance finished the course in 2 minutes, 25.62 seconds to finish second in the F04 division. The gold medal winner, Great Britain’s Lauren Payne, finished in 2:12.91.
Vance qualified for the slalom final on Wednesday in the F03 division, and will compete this morning for a second medal. Her qualifying time of 1:37.93 was fourth-fastest in her division.
Great Falls’ Trevor Trainer-Windle, the only other world qualifier from Montana, won gold in men’s advanced giant slalom M07 division in 2:05.35, besting the field by 2.32 seconds. He also will compete this morning in advanced slalom.
Vance, 26, was born with Down syndrome and graduated from Whitefish High School in 2010. She was a cheerleader in high school and is an accomplished equestrian, excelling in pole bending, barrel racing and trail-class events in addition to her prowess on the slopes.
A recap of the top events from the World Winter Games will be broadcast on ESPN and ABC.