Scott Hill pumped his fist crossing the finish line Sunday, no other skiers in sight.
Within 20 seconds teammates Harry Seaton and Leif Lennie cruised home, the 1-2-3 finish in the 15-kilometre classic race putting a decisive stamp on yet another OUA Nordic championship win.
Earlier in the day Lakehead’s Alannah MacLean and Anna Lee took the top two spots in the women’s 10-kilometre event at Lappe Nordic Ski Centre, capturing the team title for the ninth consecutive year.
Hill, who represented Canada at the 2013 world juniors as a member of the National Development Centre Thunder Bay squad, said the home-course proves the defending national champion men’s team is deserving of the title.
“For sure, it’s nice to show that LU’s the dominant force in cross-country skiing in Ontario,” the 18-year-old Hill said, the Thunderwolves capturing their 14th men’s championship since 1988, their seventh in the last nine years.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of pressure because I think the coaches are confident we can do it and the athletes are confident we can do it. I think everyone knows that we’re the best.”
The Lakehead men finished with 25 points, 27 fewer than second-place Carleton, while on the women’s side the Wolves wound up with 39 points, 14 better than the Ravens’ 53. Guelph took third place with 110 points.
The men’s win, led by Hill’s 46:01.2 finish, was all but a foregone conclusion after they opened an 18-point lead over Carleton on Saturday.
The women, however, were only up nine on the Ravens heading into Sunday’s event, and needed a strong finish to overcome a determined Carleton crew bent on ending LU’s dominance in the sport.
MacLean and Lee said it was all about strategy, and though they trailed and the midway point of the race, it wasn’t about setting the pace in the early going.
“It was amazing, it was an amazing race out there,” said MacLean, adding the key to victory was staying calm on the course.
“We knew there were a whole bunch of girls, especially from Carleton, that could potentially win this. My strategy today was to stay relaxed, stay with the group and then, being with the group in the first 5K, looking around and seeing four of my teammates surrounding me and knowing the other three were just super close behind was amazing,” said MacLean, who topped all skiers with a time of 35:30.7, less than two seconds faster than Lee and eight seconds better than Carleton’s Kendra Murray.
Former Lakehead female athlete of the year and three-time OUA all-star Anna Crawford, who now skis for Carleton, was fourth.
Winning nine straight OUA banners, and a record 14 overall, is a mighty accomplishment, MacLean said.
“I just think it shows how strong the program is, for sure. The fact that we attract so many strong skiers who want to ski for Lakehead, who want to continue this tradition of winning OUA banners every year is great,” MacLean said.
Lee said winning on LU’s home course, the first time the event has been held in the Thunder Bay area in almost two decades, was all that much more special.
“We have all of our fans and our friends from school and all our supporters out here, so it makes it really exciting.”
Hill and Lee were named OUA MVPs for their efforts and Lakehead coach Amanda Holdsworth captured coach of the year honours.
The Thunderwolves will attempt to defend both the men’s and women’s national championships in late March at Whistler, B.C.
