THUNDER BAY - The cross country skiing National Team Development Center had a dominant day at the Canadian U23 World Championship trials, putting four men in the top five and qualifying one skier for the U23 World Championships.
NTDC veteran Bob Thompson led the charge with a convincing win in the A Final, attacking on the last climb to top the national field by two seconds. Thunder Bay local Angus Foster followed closely behind in 2nd, after outsprinting National Ski Team member Julien Locke in a photo finish. NTDC’s Graham Ritchie and Julian Smith pulled away from the rest of the field to claim 4th and 5th respectively, finishing as the top U23 athletes in the event.
Head Coach Timo Puiras says he is very impressed with the results and is proud of what his team has been able to accomplish. “Our athletes have shown that they are in great shape, and we have an amazing technical team that absolutely nailed the ski preparation today. I’m really proud to show that we can have a world class program right here in Thunder Bay, and am excited for more stellar racing this weekend”. The dominant results are a testament to the depth at the National Team Development Center program, which continues to produce some of Canada’s top cross country skiers more than 20 years after hosting 1995 Nordic World Championships in Thunder Bay.
With the result, Ritchie will earn a spot on Team Canada at the U23 World Championships, which are set to take place in Lahti, Finland in January. Smith is also in a strong position to qualify for the U23 team after winning the qualifying round earlier in the day, and will look to solidify his position when racing resumes on Saturday.
On the women’s side, NTDC’s Katherine Stewart-Jones skied to second in the Senior Women’s category, following up a dominant win last weekend on the national NorAm circuit in Vernon, BC. Thunder Bay local Sadie White also skied to an impressive 7th place as the second U23 after recovering from a fall, with third year athlete Annika Richardson following her in 11th.
