By Dan Plouffe
Clara Hegan has been skiing in Gatineau Park pretty much since birth, and today the 19-year-old earned one of the biggest prizes of her career on the Nakkertok South trails with a silver medal in the open women’s 15-kilometre freeskate race at the Nordiq Canada Ski Nationals.
Hegan flirted with the podium when she finished fourth in yesterday’s sprints event, and then beat all 91 entrants except for one in the 15 km race on her home Nakkertok course.
Beijing 2022 Olympian Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt of Fondeur-Laurentides earned her second consecutive victory at the nationals. Hegan, who finished 16.5 seconds back of Bouffard-Nesbitt in 36:51.8, was also the top under-20 athlete in the field.
“I’m super proud of my performances this week,” Hegan said via the Gatineau Nordic Events organizers. “I couldn’t be more stoked that it was at my home club with all my family and friends cheering me on.”
In February, Hegan competed at the FIS Junior World Championships in Slovenia, earning a top individual result of 25th to go with an 11-place relay showing, and she also made her World Cup debut in Minnesota, placing 55th and 58th.
Hegan has been a cross-country skier pretty much since birth.
“Even when I couldn’t walk, my parents put me on skis,” the Nepean High School grad recounted in a 2023 interview with the Ottawa Sports Pages. “Before that, my dad would pull me around as a baby in Gatineau Park. I’ve been skiing forever, and I’ve been ski racing as long as I can remember as well.”
Like her family, Hegan has fallen in love with the peaceful, relaxing feel of going for a ski as well.
“I also love the cross-country skiing community,” outlined the athlete who’s now based out of the National Team Development Centre in Thunder Bay. “I think it’s a really great community that loves to be outside – extremely motivated, very friendly. I would say there’s not a lot of bad competition. Everybody’s friends with everybody.”
Local athletes occupied four of the top-nine women’s positions in the longest race on the championships programme, which was reduced to six 2.5 km loops from the traditional longer marathon event distance and changed from a mass start to interval start due to conditions.
Nakkertok’s Anna Stewart, who won bronze yesterday, was fourth in 37:32.5, followed by sixth-place finisher Helen McCulligh of Kanata Nordic in 37:40.8 and XC Ottawa’s Hannah Shields in ninth at 38:47.7.
Stewart topped the university/college skiers’ standings for Queen’s, while McCulligh was second for Carleton.
Kanata’s Aidan Kirkham was the top local skier in the men’s 15 km free in eighth place, and third among university skiers for uOttawa.
The nationals will wrap up Thursday with interval start races for the senior (10 km) and U16/U18 classes (7.5 km).
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