The Kimberley Nordic Juniors Racers held their own on the national stage racing to seven podiums that included four national titles at the Nordiq Canada Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario March 11-17.
“What the team achieved that week was pretty incredible,’ said coach Junior Racer coach Pauline Forren. “It has been pretty awesome being on the sideline this season watching the strong Kimberley team performance, and Nationals was no exception. It’s amazing how we can go there with not many athletes and come home with 7 medals.”
Para Nordic skier Logan Cox led the way taking gold in three races at the Canadian cross country ski championships at the Lappe Nordic Centre which hosted hundreds of racers from across Canada.
Teammate Sadie Demars had a great week herself reaching the national podium three times, sharing one with Kimberley Nordic’s Marielle Ackermann. Raleigh Tarte was the other Junior Racer to win a Ski Nationals event. Rounding out the Kimberley race team in Ontario were U16 athletes Kobe Clark and Ethan Eskelin
“Logan won all his races, he’s had great result throughout the season,” Forren said.
He went undefeated in the Para Nordic Standing events which included the Skate 7.5 km, Skate Sprint and 10 km Mass Start Classic.
“ It was pretty darn amazing to win those titles, and it was rewarding to see all my hard training pay off, “ said Cox.
Demars, a grade 12 Selkirk Secondary student, was in her best shape of the season for these races.
“Sadie had her best races of the year and went home with one silver and one bronze medal in the individual races and one silver in the team sprint.”
Demars was second in the U18 7.5km Skate interval start, third in the U18 15km Classic mass start.
“I was stoked with my results and the team’s efforts. We gave it our all and had a lot of fun,” said Demars.
She moved up to the Open Women’s category for the team relay to pair up with Ackermann who snatched up the bronze in a final sprint down the homestretch after a long battle with a team from the Yukon.
“It was such an exciting race to watch and also a bit nerve wracking but they managed to get the third spot behind Revelstoke and Nakkertok (Quebec),” said Forren.
Ackermann finished 4th in the only other race she did, the Open women’s sprints.
Demars’ other result was a 15th place in the U18 skate sprint.
Tarte won the U18 skate sprint event.
“I was coming off sickness but made the best of it with a solid sprint day. I was super happy with the teams’s success,” said Tarte.
“Raleigh finished up a long season with alot for racing on a good note,” said Forren.
Tarte was also 11th in the U18 10 km Skate interval start and 16th in the U18 15km mass start classic.
Kobe Clark was 17th in the U16 7.5 km skate interval start while Ethan Eskelin was 75th. In In the U16 Skate Sprints 15th place was the result for Clark and Eskelin was 53rd overall. Clark was 15th in his last race of the week, the U16 10 km mass start classic.
“Despite racing against all the best skiers in the country, Ethan and Koby put down a solid effort the whole week and did great races,” said Forren.
The boys raced in team relays in their respective age categories but did not factor in the final ranking as only the top 6 teams were considered.
It was the kind of weather Northern Ontario is known for, with cold temperatures and winds most days.
“Thunder Bay gave us all kinds of weather and conditions from freezing cold to sunny to a literal snow storm. We have been quite used to this shifting weather this winter. So I believe we were able to give the athletes good skis.”
BC CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Kimberley Nordic Junior Racers competed in the BC Championships at Telemark Nordic Club, West Kelowna March 3 -5. Sister and brother, Ava Fei Clark and Kobe Clark, were on the provincial’s podium both days of individual racing, and younger members of the club had excellent finishes as well.
Coach Pauline Forren had this to say about the team’s results.
“We had a pretty awesome weekend racing BC champs in Kelowna. The junior racers showed that the work they have put in this whole year is paying off. They were representing Kimberley in an excellent way.”
Some younger skiers for the club also took part.
“The Track Attack kids were super excited about racing, and put on glitter and big smiles every day,” said Forren.
The first day of competition was mass start skate and Kimberley skiers had great results.
Allie Bird 4th 1km 6:47.9 U8 (3), Julia Stemo 6th 1 km 7.14.1 8U (3), Elianna Albert 1st 1.5 km, 5:26. U10 (2,) Isaac Stemo 14th 2.5 km 9:49.6 U12, Nara Bird 11th 2.5km 8.55.9 U12 (2).
Junior Racer Ava Fei Clark finished second in British Columbia in the U14 Girls category with a time of 10.47.6 over a 3.5 km course while older brother Koby Clark won the U16 Boys race covering 5km in 12.49.6 to make him provincial champion.
Lenni Stich finished 9th U18(1) skiing 7.5km in 21.42.6.
The championships continued on Saturday with Interval start classic races. With them came another day of strong finishes.
Julia Stemo 2nd U8 (3)Girls 1km 6:55, Allie Bird 4th U8 (3) Girls 1km 7:17, Elianna Albert 4th U10 (2) Girls 1.5 km 7:00.6, and Nara Bird 23rd U12 (2) Girls 2.5km 11:35.
Ava Fei Clark had another great performance with the same result on the podium, 2nd U14 (2) Girls racing to a 17:02 over 5km . Koby Clark challenged for the victory again and came away with 2nd U16 (2) Boys covering the 5 km course in 15:3.
“ Koby had probably his best races of the season and looked super strong. Ava Fei has been consistently racing well this season and this weekend was no exception,” said Coach Forren.
Lenni Stich also had a finish similar to his previous well taking 8th U18 (1) Boys with a 7.5 km time of 16:34.3
The racers participated in the relays on the last day which we’re as much about having fun as they we’re about racing.