Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club Media Release
MONT SAINTE ANNE, QB - Big Thunder athletes and organizers proved that they were ready to race anytime, anywhere yesterday at the Haywood NorAm 2018 Olympic/World Junior/U23 Trials/Ontario Cup #1 and Quebec Cup #1 in Mont Sainte Anne, Quebec. Due to the extreme cold forecast, race organizers made a last minute decision to move Saturday events forward a day to be held Friday. Sunday’s distance events have been postponed to Wednesday, January 10th. Friday’s events included Classic Sprints for Open Men/Women categories as well as Classic Interval start medium distance events for Juvenile/Junior categories in the Ontario/Quebec Cup series.
Big Thunder Nordic provides support to a number of talented club members who are competing in Mont Sainte Anne January 5th – 10th who also ski with the Lakehead University Thunderwolves (LU), National Team Development Center (NTDC), and the Ontario Ski Team (ONST). The last minute changes didn’t stop Big Thunder athletes in all age groups from giving outstanding performances in a highly competitive field. In Women’s Classic Sprints, Mia Serratore (NTDC) placed 12th in the qualification round and went on to claim 4th in women’s B Final. Teammates Sadie White (NTDC/LU) and Lisle Compton (NTDC/LU) placed 22nd and 23rd respectively in the qualification. On the Men’s side, Noah Thompson (LU) and Malcolm Thompson (ONST/LU) placed first and second in the Junior Men’s qualification round, followed by teammate Noah Taylor (LU) in 16th. In the open Men’s qualification, Angus Foster (NTDC) placed 27th, followed by Fergus Foster and Hayden Gorman (LU) in 42nd and 52nd respectively. With both age groups combined, Angus Foster (NTDC) and Noah Thompson (LU) both advanced to the quarter finals.
Despite the -17 Celsius temperature, spectators were treated to thrilling performances in the Ontario/Quebec Cup Classic Interval Start events Friday. Junior Boy Kai Meekis (ONST) gave a commanding gold medal performance crossing the finish line almost 30 seconds ahead of second place. Teammates Erik Schlyter (ONST), Aleksi Luoma and Nicholas Randall followed closely in 5, 7 and 14th respectively. Junior girl Heidi Stewart (ONST) captured the bronze medal, only 13.6 seconds behind first place followed by teammate Alex Wood in 24th. In Juvenile girls, Anna Stewart claimed 4th, only 5.5 seconds off a podium spot which was taken by a sweep of skilled Quebec-based athletes.
With the race season in full swing, the calendar is full for Big Thunder athletes as they travel to Walden, ON for Ontario Cup #2 January 20-21st and Cantley, QC for the Eastern Canadian Championships/Ontario Cup #3 February 2-4th; followed by the Ontario Youth Championships February 16th-18th in North Bay, ON and the Ontario Winter Games February 23-25th in Barrie, ON. Other highlights will be the Ontario University Association Championships February 23-25th and the 2018 Haywood Canadian Ski Nationals, March 10 -17th at Lappe Nordic Center near Thunder Bay, ON.
Racing continues Monday with free technique (skate) sprints for Open Men/Women and mass start medium distance free technique events in the Ontario/Quebec Cup series events.
Full results can be found at http://new.zone4.ca/
