Local skiers finish strong

Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club and Lappe Nordic Ski Club

NAUGHTON, Ont. -- Competition continued Sunday at the Ontario Cup #2 hosted by Walden Cross Country Fitness Club with pursuit freestyle (skate) events.  Thunder Bay area athletes from Lappe Nordic and Big Thunder Nordic clubs continued to give gutsy performances, making the podium in many age categories.  Organizers were challenged by limited snow conditions but still managed to run an exciting, high caliber event.  In a pursuit style race, skiers start based on their time difference from the leader in the previous day’s event, with the fastest skier having the advantage of starting first.

Big Thunder junior boys showed their true racing spirit and swept the podium with Malcolm Thompson (ONST) claiming gold, Kai Meekis (ONST) silver and Erik Schlyter (ONST) bronze.  Teammate Nicholas Randall followed closely in 8th.  Jonathan Whatley and Niklas Harkonen from Lappe Nordic placed 9th and 11th respectively.  Junior man Frederick Serratore (BT) claimed the bronze while Hayden Gorman (Lakehead University/BT) placed 11th in senior men.  Matthew Randall (BT) and his dad Todd Randall (BT) both grabbed the silver medal in midget boys and masters men respectively.  Skiing for Lappe Nordic, juvenile boy Max Hollmann narrowly missed the podium in 4th followed closely by Alexander Randall (BT) in 7th place.

On the women’s side Lappe Nordic’s Hannah Shields (ONST) claimed gold for the second day in a row in the junior women’s event while Heidi Stewart (ONST) added silver to her collection in junior girls.  Brooke Ailey from Lappe Nordic also claimed silver in midget girls.  Big Thunder’s Carley Kiiskila raced up a category in juvenile girls placing 9th, followed closely by teammate Ainsley Carr in 19th.

Looking ahead, athletes travel to Ottawa, Ontario February 2 to 4 for the Eastern Canadian Championships and the Ontario Youth Championships in North Bay, February 16 to 18. 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 to 25 and Haywood Ski Nationals March 10 to 25 both to be held at Lappe Nordic Ski Center.

Full results can be found at http://zone4.ca/results/