By William Bailey & Dan Plouffe
Nakkertok skiers finished 3-4-5 in the open women’s sprints and Owen Siderius earned a bronze medal for the second day in a row Tuesday at the Nordiq Canada Ski Nationals in Cantley, QC.
The trio of Anna Stewart, Clara Hegan and Katherine Mason from the home club made their way through qualifications and quarter- and semi-final heats to reach the final six of the 53-skier event.
Stewart covered the 1.3-kilometre course in 3:35.48 in the race for the medals, taking bronze just .38 behind silver medallist Alison Mackie of Edmonton and a bit farther behind champion Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt of Fondeurs-Laurentides at 3:30.70, while Hegan and Mason clocked in at 3:43.04 and 3:44.47 respectively.
“I didn’t mean to lead at the beginning, but I think once I found myself in the front I just thought now or never I just gave all the gas I had and try to hold on for the finish,” Bouffard-Nesbitt said via the ENGNE organizing committee.
Stewart, who’s from Thunder Bay, is the newcomer to the Nakkertok trio alongside the pair of local skiers. Last year’s U20 national champion, Stewart is most of the way through her second season with Nakkertok, which included an appearance on the World Cup circuit earlier this season.
Siderius posted the third-fastest time in the under-16 men’s interval start race, covering the 2 x 2.5-km course in 14:45.4, roughly 15 seconds back of winner Zachari Moreau from Mont-Sainte-Anne.
The Grade 10 Colonel By Secondary School student won bronze yesterday in the U16 men’s sprints as well, and told the Ottawa Sports Pages that the local skiers have indeed been enjoying the home-course advantage.
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“We really how to work the turns and stuff like that,” signalled Siderius, adding that it also helps to know where rougher conditions tend to be present since much of the winter has featured conditions the athletes previously only saw come April.
The latest bronze further adds to Siderius’s medal collection this season, which already included two gold medals and a silver from February’s Ontario Winter Games and gold and silver from December’s Eastern Canadian Championships.
“It’s been such a great year honestly,” he highlighted. “Lots of experience and learning.”
Other top Nakkertok finishes included Addison Frank (fifth for a second consecutive day in U18 women’s), Evan Rebane (eighth in U16 men’s), and Day 1 champion Evelyn Davies (sixth in U16 girls) and Ella Kainz, who is an exchange student from Austria (12th in U16 girls). Sherbrooke’s Leo Grandbois was the open men’s sprint winner.
Read More: Melting snow trips up nordic ski nationals, but can’t stop new Canadian champ from host Nakkertok
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