Local cross-country skiers making tracks at home Eastern Canadians, at World Juniors, and in Sochi
By Anne Duggan
Every second counts.
That was the lesson learned by Ottawa area cross-country skiers on trails near and far from Feb. 1-3.
On the 2014 Olympic course for a test event at Sochi, Russia, former Nakkertok nordic ski club racer Perianne Jones earned a team relay bronze medal, while back at home, more than 600 athletes looking to follow in her tracks competed at the Haywood Eastern Canadian Championships and Nor-Am races at Nakkertok in Cantley.
A tiny number of athletes attending the Easterns understood the importance of a second, or even a fraction of a second, with a perspective that can only be gained from competing on a much larger scale – in this case, the FIS Nordic Junior & U23 World Ski Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic, which were held Jan. 20-27.
One local who competed in Europe, Katherine Stewart-Jones, wound up missing the Eastern Canadians. The Nakkertok product came third in the Canadian junior women’s division on the same course at her club’s season-opening Candy Cane Cup back in December, and travelled to the nationals as a first-time participant for Team Canada.
Meanwhile, Nakkertok teammate Emilie Stewart-Jones was back at Eastern Canadians and turned in one of the top local performances at the event with a fourth-place finish in the junior girls’ 10 km free.
Also making waves were the XC Ottawa club and, notably, Katie McMahon. A former Nakkertok skier, McMahon took second overall in the senior women’s 10 km free, and won a bronze medal in the senior classic sprints.
McMahon was also a part of a near-repeat of the team sprint bronze won by Jones in Sochi. The open women’s relay team of McMahon, Sheila Kealey and Megan McTavish finished third, behind Nakkertok’s U23 athletes Lee Churchill, Bronwyn Williams and Bronwyn Clifford.
The men’s relay team sprint results also highlighted the best of both clubs, with Alex Mahoney, Alexander Touchette and Colin Abbott of Nakkertok finishing third, and XC Ottawa’s Ian Murray, Logan Potter and Gavin Hamilton taking fourth.
Personal bests
McMahon wasn’t the only local product with her eyes on the bigger picture in Sochi. Chelsea Nordiq’s Kendra Murray was also overseas, representing Canada in both cross-country skiing and biathlon at the junior worlds, making her one of only three Canadian athletes to compete in two disciplines.
Her teammates noted that Murray’s calmness helped her finish second out of the Canadians in the biathlon sprint and pursuit events.
“I knew this would be tough racing,” Murray says in a press release from the Canadian team, “but my goal was just to improve as the week progressed, and I was able to do that.”
At Eastern Canadians, other highlights included a third-place finish by Stefan Lloyd in the junior boys’ 15 km classic, with the two in front of him also Nakkertok athletes.
Nepean’s Andrew McCann took a bronze in the junior boys’ classic sprint, with Pembroke’s Cameron Ladd right behind him in fourth place. As always, for Ottawa area skiers, every second counts.
Nakkertok strikes gold at Canadian Easterns
Nakkertok hosted over 600 competitors at the Eastern Canadians cross-country ski championships Feb. 1-3. Many area racers stood out in the provincial talent-packed event. Among them:
- Junior girls 10 km free: Emilie Stewart-Jones 4th
- Senior women 10 km free: Katie McMahon 2nd, Perianne Jones 4th
- Junior boys 15 km classic: Top-3 Nakkertok sweep
- Junior boys classic sprint: Andrew McCann 3rd