By Pablo Medina
Ottawa’s Luke Allan launched his post-university cross-country skiing career in style by capturing the senior men’s aggregate title at the 2025 Nordiq Canada Ski Nationals from Mar. 17-23 in Canmore, AB.
The 21-year-old Nakkertok Nordic athlete won a gold medal in the men’s 30-kilometre classic, a silver in the classic sprint and placed fourth overall in the interval free event to comfortably outpace 72 of Canada’s best in the aggregate points standings.
Alongside Nakkertok/Ontario teammates Katya Semeniuk and Anna Stewart, Allan also collected a silver medal in the mixed relay.
“It felt great. I was super excited to win a race at the national championship,” Allan noted by email. “This was my first podium and win at the senior level and my first win since 2019 (U18).”
Allan came into the nationals riding high from a fantastic finish to his NCAA career at Dartmouth College.
The team captain helped push his Big Green ski team to a bronze medal finish with his fourth- and sixth-place performances at the NCAA championships, held on his home track in Hanover, NH from Mar. 5-8.
“I love Dartmouth,” underlined Allan, who earned All-American honours in his final NCAA competition. “This was my fourth and last season racing with Dartmouth, and it has been such an awesome experience.
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“Training and racing with the ski team throughout the school year is amazing because our team is very close.”
Balancing school with sports can be a challenge for high-performance athletes, but the senior Dartmouth economics student finds that managing both pursuits is extremely rewarding.
“Most professors at Dartmouth understand that athletes will have to miss some classes, and they support us in catching up on missed work,” Allan added.
The former Ashbury College Colt attributes a big part of his success to the hard work he put in during the fall and summer leading up to the ski season. Despite dealing with an Achilles injury that limited his running training, Allan maintained and even made gains in fitness by training on the bike.
With a national title in tow, Allan now holds ambitious goals for the future.
“I would love to aim for competitive performances on the international stage, such as World Cups, World Championships, and the Olympics,” indicated Allan, who made his World Cup debut for Canada last year in Minnesota.
Nakkertok club title streak ends
Despite numerous strong performances for their athletes, Nakkertok Nordic failed to capture the national club title for the first time in 14 years.
Home to a majority of Ottawa skiers, Nakkertok had run its streak to 13 last year on its home course in Cantley, QC, but finished third this time behind champion Mont-Ste-Anne and host Canmore Nordic.
Nakkertok’s Laila Lebel earned bronze medals in the mass start and interval races en route to a third-place finish in the U16 girls’ overall standings, and she also helped Ontario to a relay silver.
Nakkertok’s Owen Siderius won bronze in the U18 boys’ 10 km classic, while XC Ottawa’s Hannah Shields was third overall among senior women.
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