THUNDER BAY - It was America’s year out on the cross-country ski trails, with three of the four top finishers in the two men’s and women’s 50K races at the Sleeping Giant Loppet coming from south of the border.
“It’s the third time that I’ve raced,” said Brian Gregg of Minneapolis, Minn. who finished first in the 50K freestyle. “I finished second to Thunder Bay native Michael Somppi last year, so it’s nice to win this year.”
For the last three years, local skiers have taken top spots in the men's race at the annual Sleeping Giant Loppet, but during its 42nd year at the Sleeping Giant Provincial Park on Saturday, it was America’s turn.
Gregg finished first with a time of 2:13:49, easily edging out the closest competitor, Hannes Stenstrom of Duluth, Minn. with a time of 2:19:28, and Noah Thompson of Thunder Bay, who finished third at 2:24:07.
Last year, Gregg finished second to Thunder Bay’s Michael Somppi by just two seconds.
“I had a little bit of a gap right before the furthest road crossing at about 25K, about the halfway point,” Gregg said. “While driving up in the morning, I put a fresh water bottle out there, so it was nice to get a little bit of gas.”
Several top Thunder Bay skiers were not competing this year as they prepare for national cross-country ski trials, but despite taking the top spot away from local favourites, Gregg said there are never hard feelings among cross-country skiers.
“I got a lot of great friends here in Thunder Bay,” he said. “I do a lot of training with the National Training Centre. I like to say we keep the competition on the ski trails.”
Local women in the 50K freestyle had a much better day, with the top three spots dominated by Thunder Bay skiers.
Mia Serratore finished on top with a time of 2:37:58, followed by Brook Latimer at 2:40:18 and Alannah McLean in third, finishing at the 2:42:11 mark.
In the 50K men's classic, Tamer Mische-Richt of Duluth finished first with a time of 2:48:12, edging out local skiers Geoffrey Way-Nee, who finished second with a time of 2:53:24 and Paul Inkila, coming in just behind at 2:53:53.
On the women’s side, Madison Morgan of Sun Valley, Idaho, took the top spot by finishing in a time of just 3:01:22, followed by Samantha Benzing of Duluth who finished more than 10 minutes behind at 3:13:34 and Nicole Gilman, also of Duluth, who came in just one second behind Benzing at 3:13:35.
This was the first Sleeping Giant Loppet for Morgan, who skis with the Sun Valley Ski Education Centre, and was only her second 50K race.
“It was pretty sweet,” Morgan said. “It started off relatively slow. It was pretty cold this morning. But as soon as the sun came out, the snow sped up, the kick was wonderful, the tracks were firm, it was an awesome 50K.”
Morgan finished well above the rest of the competition, which she credits to working on her double-pull technique.
“In the past few years, I’ve really focused on double-pull technique,” she said. “This course is awesome for double-pulling. It was pretty snowy, which means great climbs. I think it was a strong push from the start, chasing the guys, and I just kept with it.”
Peter Gallagher, coordinator of the Sleeping Giant Loppet, said this year there were 810 skiers participating, with more than 300 hundred coming from outside of Thunder Bay.
“That is the most we’ve had in a number of years,” Gallagher said. “We are very happy with the turnout.”
“People love this event,” he continued. “It’s 42 years old and it has a tradition that people in the United Sates and across Northern Ontario are well in-tuned with and look forward to it every year.”
What made this year even better was all the snow, with more than 70 centimetres at the park giving groomers plenty to work with. And while it may be a pain to shovel, for those taking to the trails, all that white stuff was a gift.
“It’s so nice to work with,” Gallagher said. “There is lots of snow to be able to groom that to the conditions that skiers love. I know everybody else in the city is tired of snow, but we are super happy to have the amount of snow we have this year.”
