Date: 17/12/02

OWI moguls skier Manuela Berchtold claimed the first top ten World Cup result of her career over the weekend, finishing tenth in the Italian resort of Madonna di Campiglio.

Manuela qualified in equal 12th place, just making the 12 woman final, then produced one of the best runs of her life to move up two places.

The previous best World cup result for the 25 year-old Perisher Blue skier was 12th in St Lary last January.

Team-mate Jane Sexton also produced a career-best placing of 17th while Maria Despas was unable to match her good start to the season, finishing in 20th place.

After the first three events, Maria sits in 13th place on the World cup standings, with Manuela moving up to number 20.

In the men’s event, season stand-out Michael Robertson was not as successful as in his previous two outings, finishing in 19th place, Fellow OWI moguls skier Adrian Costa was in 33rd place. Michael is currently ranked 11th on the World Cup standings.

Head Coach Steve Desovich is “more than happy” with the progress so far.

“Michael has been outstanding, especially last week with the sixth place in only his second start. Some slight knee soreness held him back today, hopefully with some rest Michael will be ready for North America in the new year.”

“The girls are starting to come on, Maz was very solid last week with a ninth and Manuela broke through today for her best result ever. The conditioning at the AIS and with Peter Hogg has helped us. Three athletes qualifying for finals so far has been a big boost and we are still in December.”