Sprint to the finish

Harry Seaton has cut his skiing schedule drastically.

So much so his Lakehead University teammate Andrea Lee jokingly said Saturday she thought he had retired.

If so, he had a heck of a comeback tour, taking top spot in a tightly contested 50-kilometre freestyle cross-country ski race at the Sleeping Giant Loppet, the premier race in the top event on the local Nordic calendar.

“It was really, really close. It came down to the last couple hundred metres, ” said Seaton of the four-way race for the finish, after crossing the line in 2:09:32.8, 2.5 seconds ahead of LU teammate Leif Lennie. Former National Development Centre teammate Andy Shields was third, six seconds slower than Seaton, while Toronto’s Scott Hill, another NDC and LU star, taking fourth.

Seaton said Shields, fresh off a trip to the world under-23 Nordic Championships, broke free at the 20-kilometre mark and opened up a gap. A fall by Seaton didn’t help his standing.

“I had some space to make up, but caught up and we joined up as a pack for the last 10 K and then it just unraveled in the last 200 metres.”

Seaton, who left the NDC program this season in favour of full-time student status, will head to nationals later this month with the Thunderwolves. Defending the 50-kilometre title he first captured a year ago was a great warm-up event.

“It’s great to still be able to come out and race with the big boys,” Seaton said.

Lennie, who spent two years with the NDC program, said he and Seaton held back most of the race, then sprinted to the finish.
“Harry made a big break and I was able to get in right behind him and outdo Andy,” Lennie said.

The way the race panned out actually benefited him, Lennie added.

“It gives a guy like me, who’s a little out of shape, a chance, let the other guys do the work,” he said.

Lee, coming off winning MVP honours at last weekend’s OUA championships, actually forgot her racing bib at home, but didn’t let the distraction bother her and cruised to an easy win in the women’s 50-kilometre freestyle event.

Not a bad result for someone who said she’d never skied that distance before.

“I just saw it as a challenge and thought I’ve never done one before, so why not? It was really good. I started pretty conservatively because I didn’t really know how to pace a 50. So I started slow and I think it paid off because I had energy from the 20 to 40 K mark. That’s where I picked off a lot of people,” said Lee, who also skis for NDC-Thunder Bay.

Lee finished the race in 2:26:25.9, 1:28 ahead of multiple-time champion Brook Latimer.

Event co-ordinator Peter Gallagaher, who was forced by cold temperatures to delay the race an hour, said he was pleased with how things unfolded.

“We had the hour delay, and everybody seems happy with the delay so they could get a little bit more relaxed start to the day. The snow conditions were excellent. The trail has been really well prepared and I’m very happy with the 815 who have started,” Gallagher said.

Duluth’s Nick Power took top spot in the men’s classic 50-kilometre event, crossing the line in 2:30:03.7, while Paulina Kietavain was the top woman in a time of 2:33:29.1.

Thunder Bay’s Victor Hopper took the 20-kilometre race in 50:58.5, just three-tenths of a second faster than NDC-Thunder Bay’s Jack Carlyle. NDC’s Erin Tribe took the women’s event in 44:41.7, just ahead of teammate Alannah MacLean.

William Field of Thunder Bay won the 35-kilomtre race in 2:00:21.1, while Kapuskasing’s Paula Rich topped all women in 2:16:46.5.

Full results can be found here.