HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Nakkertok Nordic Ski Club aims to make snowmaking greener

By Martin Cleary

The Nakkertok Nordic Ski Club is well known and respected across the cross-country ski community in Canada as a leader in high-performance athlete development and innovation.

Until the recent 2025 Canadian championships in Canmore, AB, Nakkertok had won a remarkable 13 consecutive national club titles based on aggregate points from a wide range of age groups. This year, the club based in Cantley, Que., placed third overall behind Mont-Ste-Anne and Canmore Nordic.

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In 2016, Nakkertok won the Kraft Heinz Project Play grand prize of $250,000 over 819 other submissions from 550 Canadian sports communities. The money allowed the club to invest in snowmaking equipment and improve its 75-kilometre network of trails.

Snowmaking, which is usually associated with alpine ski areas, has given the club the ability to extend its cross-country season from November through March and keep conditions at a high level, even when the weather doesn’t co-operate. This has permitted the club to stage significant races, including national and regional championships.

Dirk and Claudia Van Wijk, the chief landowners at Nakkertok since 2003 when they bought 300 acres from the Weber family, donated key land to the club a year ago, including the parking lot, racing stadium, building and Nakkertrak.

If all that wasn’t big enough, the 55-year-old club is now focused on making its snowmaking green.

Nakkertok has set a fund-raising goal of $150,000 to work with Hydro Quebec to install a 600-volt, three-phase hydroelectric system to replace its aging diesel generator.

The project is expected to cost about $300,000 and Nakkertok officials are aiming to secure the other $150,000 through grants from the province of Quebec and additional investments.

By going green, the club can enhance its snowmaking, improve lighting for night skiing, have electric vehicle charging stations and modernize its chalet and washroom facilities.

“A more reliable, clean electrical system will set Nakkertok on the path to a sustainable future for our community,” the club said in a recent press release.

“We are proud to be a regional leader in offering a facility that can support skiing for so many youth, families and skiing enthusiasts.”

The club has more than 1,500 members. Donations to the club’s most recent project are being accepted via Nakkertok.ca. As of Tuesday, the “make snowmaking greener” project had raised $21,438.

PLAYOFF WINS HARD TO COME BY AT CANADIAN U20 CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Two Ottawa rinks representing Ontario at the Canadian U20 curling championships in Summerside, P.E.I., had identical preliminary pool records, but narrowly missed the women’s playoffs.

Carleton University student Owen Nicholls of Haliburton, ON., also wore Ontario colours in a non-skip role as his team reached the first round of the men’s playoffs.

Playing third for Ontario No. 1, Nicholls helped skip Tyler MacTavish to a three-way tie for first place in their pool at 6-2. But the MacTavish rink fell 9-3 to eventual champion Calan MacIsaac, the Nova Scotia No. 2 squad, in the opening playoff round.

Navan Curling Club’s Dominique Vivier and Huntley Curling Club’s Katrina Frlan posted identical 5-3 records in their respective women’s pools, but their respective fourth- and fifth-place standings left them out of the chase for the medals.

JARED SCHMIDT REACHES QUARTERS IN SEASON’S FINAL WORLD CUP SKI CROSS RACE

Besides being brother and sister and competing as elite ski cross racers, Jared and Hannah Schmidt of Dunrobin, ON, had something else in common at the end of their 2024-25 international season – they were the fifth-ranked Canadians in their male and female classes respectively.

While Reece Howden won the final two World Cup races in Idre Fjall, Sweden and his third consecutive men’s individual championship, Jared reached the men’s quarterfinal in Sunday’s race, after not competing on Saturday.

He finished 16th overall on the men’s World Cup circuit with 278 points.

Hannah placed 12th in the women’s World Cup standings, despite competing in only seven races. A season-ending crash at a race in Austria left her with a fractured and displaced tibia plateau. She was in fourth place overall at the time of her injury with one win and two third-place results.

The performances by the Schmidts also helped Canada win its fourth consecutive Nation’s Cup as the country with the most World Cup points in a season.

VANESSA CHIAPPETTA EXPERIENCES RUGBY BRONZE FOR CANADA

Former Carleton University women’s rugby star Vanessa Chiappetta was named to Canada’s sevens team for the recent SVNS Series event in Hong Kong.

Chiappetta was one of 14 on the national team list, but only 13 were declared for the final tournament roster. She was the 14th player, but supported and watched her teammates from the sidelines.

Canada defeated France 21-17 to win the bronze medal for its best result and first medal of the 2024-25 SVNS Series season.

In its earlier playoff games, Canada defeated Spain 29-10, but lost to New Zealand 41-0 in the semifinals. The preliminary round saw Canada defeat Japan 24-17 and Fiji 26-17 before losing to Australia 26-15.

Canada, which is fifth in the World Cup standings, is scheduled to play this weekend in Singapore.

FOUR LOCAL PLAYERS WIN NCAA DIV. III MEN’S HOCKEY TITLE

Senior forward Ethan Mulhearn of Williamstown, ON, and graduating defenceman Austin Mourar, a former Carleton Place Canadians skater in the CCHL, celebrated their third consecutive national men’s hockey championship, when Hobart and William Smith College Statesmen edged Utica University Pioneers 2-1 in the NCAA division III final.

Freshman forward Easton Ryan of Nepean scored Hobart’s first goal in the third period and was named to the NCAA all-tournament team. Ottawa’s Connor Shibley, a first-year goalie, also was on the Hobart roster.

Montreal’s Bryan Landsberger, who previously played for the CCHL’s Nepean Raiders, was part of Utica’s goaltending contingent.

Hobart finished the season at 29-1-1 and a record for most wins, while Utica posted a mark of 24-5-2.

ANDREEA NICOLICI FINISHES FIRST SEASON WITH NATIONAL SKI TEAM

Camp Fortune skier Andreea Nicolici of Ottawa concluded her strong debut season as a member of the Canadian women’s alpine ski team with a seventh place finish in the slalom event at the Canadian championships in Mont-Tremblant.

The 20-year-old earned a pair of top-10 finishes on the Nor-Am Cup circuit in late January, and she also posted a top-10 in the team parallel event at the world junior championships in Italy in early March. She collected six podiums in other FIS races this season as well.

Tremblant’s Thomas McKinlay of Ottawa was 13th in the men’s slalom at the nationals.

ALL-AMERICAN STATUS FOR JULIE BROUSSEAU, REGAN RATHWELL, KATE MILLER

Freshman Julie Brousseau of Ottawa earned a bronze medal and first-team All-American status in her first trip to the NCAA swimming and diving championships.

A 2024 Canadian Olympian at the Paris Summer Games, Brousseau swam the second leg of the women’s 4×200-yard freestyle relay for the University of Florida and helped the Gators to the bronze medal in six minutes, 53.41 seconds. It also marked the second fastest time in Gators’ history for the event.

In her three individual races, Brousseau, who previously swam for the Nepean-Kanata Barracudas, qualified for the consolation final, which brought her second-team All-American honours – 500-yard freestyle, 10th, 4:36.58; 400-yard individual medley, 13th, 4:05.83; and 1,650-yard freestyle, 16th, 15:57.60.

Brousseau’s contributions also allowed the Gators to finish sixth in the women’s swimming and diving team standings.

Meanwhile, Regan Rathwell of Ashton, ON and the Greater Ottawa Kingfish earned points from one of her two backstroke races, which helped the University of Tennessee place fifth in the women’s standings.

Rathwell was a second-team All-American for her 12th-place showing in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:51.29, which was the third-best time in Lady Vols’ history. She qualified in the 16th and final spot for the finals and was fourth in the consolation final. In the 100-yard backstroke, Rathwell was 24th in the preliminary heats in 51.70.

In diving, Nepean-Ottawa Diving Club product Kate Miller was 15th in the women’s three-metre and 38th on platform as a freshman for the University of Southern California. Miller, a 2024 Olympian in synchronized 10-metre, qualified for the consolation final, where she was seventh with 316.65 points, and was named a second-team All-American.

LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST

· One goal made a big difference as the Ottawa Lady Sens lost three consecutive games – 1-0 to Stoney Creek Sabres, 3-2 to Whitby Wolves and 3-1 to Barrie Sharks – at the Ontario Women’s Hockey League’s U22 Elite championship in Toronto. Francesca Barresi, Brooke Mulvihill and Kate Viel scored for the Lady Sens.

· The 2026 Canadian national skating championships for senior, junior and synchronized athletes will be staged at the Slush Puppie Centre in Gatineau from Jan. 5-11. The Canadian Olympic team will be selected from the senior competition.