Thrilling sprint events continued today at the 2019 Canadian National Ski Championships in Gatineau, Quebec. Juvenile and Junior Girls and Boys competed on a hard packed one-kilometer freestyle (skate) course with local Thunder Bay athletes advancing to the finals and capturing gold and silver against some of the best competitors in the country.
Thunder Bay athletes from Lappe Nordic, Big Thunder Nordic, NTDC and Lakehead Thunderwolves are making a strong showing at this elite national level competition which runs through to March 20th.
In today’s skate sprint events Juvenile girl Anna Stewart (Big Thunder) finished first overall in the qualification and went on to impressively claim gold in the A-Final. Lappe Nordic’s Brooke Ailey advanced to the quarter finals finishing 24th while Carley Kiiskila (BT) and Sarah Cullinan (BT) were knocked out in the qualification round finishing 39th and 79th respectively. Juvenile boy Matthew Randall (BT) finished 95th in the qualification round.
In the competitive Junior Boys event, Big Thunder’s Erik Schlyter fought hard for the silver in the A-Final. Teammate Max Hollmann (BT) advanced to the quarter finals finishing 30th overall. Alexander Randall (BT) and Josh Zavitz (Lappe) finished 54th and 107th respectively. Junior girl Ainsley Carr (BT) finished 74th.
Lappe’s Charlotte Ailey competed in the midget girls three-kilometer skate event, finishing 46th.
The excitement continues tonight with the announcement of athletes chosen to represent Canada at the World Cup Finals happening next weekend in Quebec City. The crowd pleasing Team Sprints will run Monday with Thunder Bay athletes expected to be strong competitors. Full results can be found at www.zone4.ca.
