NEWS RELEASE
NATIONAL TEAM DEVELOPMENT CENTRE
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NATIONAL TEAM DEVELOPMENT CENTRE
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SOVEREIGN LAKE, B.C. - The competitive cross country ski season commenced on Dec. 4 at Sovereign Lake, with the first FIS race on the Canadian calendar. The National Team Development Centre, which trains out of Thunder Bay, was well represented with seven athletes competing in the free technique sprint event. The event was held over a demanding 1,300 metre loop, and our athletes produced impressive results.
In the Open Men’s race, Julian Smith posted a time of 2:33.78, which proved to be the fastest qualifying time of the day. Julian carried this momentum into the finals, where he earned the gold medal, ahead of Julien Locke of British Columbia, and former NTDC athlete Bob Thompson. NTDC skier Pierre Grall-Johnson finished 4th overall, and was the first U23 athlete in the competition.
In the U20 men’s race, NTDC was strongly represented by three skiers. NTDC skier Kendyn Mashinter had the fastest qualifying time of the day at 2:40.3. In the finals, Kendyn finished runner up to his team-mate Guillame Pelchat, who claimed the gold medal. NTDC skier Max Mahaffy had a strong showing finishing 14th overall in a field of 47 skiers.
In Open Women’s sprint, NTDC skier Shaylynn Loewen qualified 2nd overall with a time of 3:06.23. Shaylynn finished 5th in the finals, while also finishing as the top university athlete in the field.
NTDC skier Sophie Tremblay had a 19th place finish in the U20 Women’s category, in one of her first races in almost 2 years.
Racing continued at Sovereign Lake on Sunday, Dec. 5 with classic technique distance races.
Racing continued at Sovereign Lake on Sunday, Dec. 5 with classic technique distance races.
