Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club and Lappe Nordic Ski Club Media Release
NAUGHTON, Ont. - Thunder Bay is home to some seriously accomplished cross country skiers who can be described as hard-working, passionate and focussed. The hours of training and perseverance paid off this weekend with outstanding performances at the Ontario Cup #2 hosted by Walden Cross Country Fitness Center.
In today’s classic interval events, battling unseasonably warm temperatures, Thunder Bay was represented by athletes from Big Thunder Nordic, Lappe Nordic, the Ontario Ski Team (ONST) and the Lakehead University Thunderwolves. On the women’s side, demonstrating their strength and skillful classic technique, junior woman Hannah Shields (Lappe/ONST) and junior girl Heidi Stewart (BT/ONST) both claimed gold medals. Lappe’s Brooke Ailey captured bronze in midget girls. In the competitive juvenile girl event, Big Thunder’s Carley Kiiskila raced up an age category and made the top 10 placing 9th while teammate Ainsley Carr followed closely in 18th .
In the men’s events, Big Thunder’s Frederick Serratore made the podium with 3rd in junior men while Matthew Randall (BT) nabbed the gold medal in midget boys. Lakehead University’s Hayden Gorman (BT) placed 9th in senior men. In the hotly contested junior boy’s event, Big Thunder’s Kai Meekis (BT/ONST) claimed silver, Malcolm Thompson (BT/ONST) claimed bronze and teammate Erik Schlyter (BT/ONST) placed 4th. Nicholas Randall (BT) was on their heels in 6th place. Lappe’s Jonathan Whatley and Niklas Harkonen placed 9th and 18th respectively. Juvenile boy Alexander Randall (BT) claimed 6th followed closely by Max Hollmann (Lappe) in 7th.
It was a busy weekend for Lappe Nordic, Lappe veteran Andy Shields was also competing at the 2018 Haywood NorAm Western Canadian Championships today in Red Deer, Alberta where he claimed the gold medal in the senior men’s mass start classic race.
Looking ahead, athletes travel to Ottawa, Ontario February 2-4th for the Eastern Canadian Championships and the Ontario Youth Championships in North Bay, February 16-18th. Thunder Bay will soon be able to see these fabulous athletes live in action. Local organizers are busy preparing for the Ontario University Association Championships February 23-25th and Haywood Ski Nationals March 10-25th both to be held at Lappe Nordic Ski Center. Full results can be found at http://zone4.ca/results/
