Athletes of all ages competed at the Teck Coast Cup 5 and 6 races on the Family Day weekend at Mount Washington.
The Strathcona Nordic Ski Club hosted the event, which was part of a Cross Country BC-sanctioned series.
Saturday’s team sprint relay nordic ski-cross (free technique) was held for its second year and made for good all-round fun, mixing ages and abilities. Sunday’s event was a nordic distance event, from one kilometre for atoms to 2.5k for peewees and bantams, and 5k for midgets and juveniles.
Included this year for the first time, in conjunction with the Teck Coast Cup, was the Vancouver Island Loppet with distances at 15km (half) and 30k (full). The Loppet provided a challenge with a 643 metre total climb (30k distance), and relatively steep descents on hard-packed and somewhat icy conditions.
Following are the top three times for the two distances:
Aiden Noble (46:19.7), Stephen Lamon (50:26.0) and Gabe Gledhill (50:28.9) were the top three finishers in the men’s half Loppet. All are SNSC members. Top three for half Loppet women were Emma Wong, 57:43.9, of the SNSC; Anne Mackie, 58:42.6 of Hollyburn; and Madeleine Guimond, 59:49.9, of SNSC.
In full Loppet, Ross Lamon of the SNSC was the fastest man in 1:26:11.3. Evan Girard (Oxbow, SK/Victoria) was second in 1:26:18.7 and Connor McGrady (SNSC) third in 1:34:16.3.
Full Loppet women winners were Tobi Henderson (1:35:00.4) of the Whistler Nordics, followed by SNSC skiers Amelia Wells (1:38:10.0) and Freya Wasteneys (1:38:35).
“This home race weekend was such a great opportunity to build community amongst our programs,” SNSC head coach Andrea Stapff said. “For our youngest skiers to be part of a regional event, and to ski side-by-side our Junior Development team and our Junior Race team athletes is so important.
“The popular team relay event on a skier cross course, nordic style, is not only super fun but goes a long way to develop great skills. It was really fun to watch everyone get into the team spirit and give it a really good go through the various skill segments of the course. And I was really impressed with the way in which all the competitors handled the icy conditions in the distance races on the second day of the race weekend. “From the 30km full loppet course to the one km loop for our youngest skiers; it was an excellent weekend all around.”
www.strathconanordics.com
