The Bulkley Valley Nordic Team had an excellent showing at the BC Cup Teck Championships held at the in Kelowna’s Telemark Nordic Centre last weekend.
Mia Recknell placed second in the Juvenile Girls category 5 km Mass Start Skate race on Friday, and fourth in the 7 km Interval Start Classic race Saturday. Recknell broke a pole during the race Saturday. Thankfully a teammate was able to hand her a replacement pole for a quick recovery.
She and Jesse Smids received aggregate awards for their overall results this season. Smids, Zoe Hallman, Gregory Baxter, Chloe Williston, Finley Gagnon, and James Baxter all had top 10 finishes in their age categories.
Sunday relay teams of Mia, Rachel Cuell and Zoe placed sixth, and Jesse, Jacob De Groot and Conor Murphy placed 10th in highly competitive categories. The Teck BC Cup race series is our B.C. equivalent to PyeongChang with as many as 40 competitors in each age category and 650 racers overall at the wind-up championships.
Head coach Lisa Perry is proud of the effort put in by all of the BV athletes. Training happens year-round, with many hours of distance running in the summer to build a strong aerobic base, followed strength and speed as the ski season approaches. Coach Geoff Recknell has anchored the Juniors Team for the past few years and has done a terrific job organizing the waxing crews for each race.
Mia Recknell, Jesse Smids, Rachel Cuell and Zoe Hallman will be off to Nationals in Thunder Bay in a few weeks. Coach Geoff will be teaming up with Caledonia head coach Graeme Moore to organize their collective crew and ensure they have fast skis.
Meanwhile, Teck BC Cup Biathlon #3 was held at Omineca Nordic in Burns Lake over the weekend. Claire Lesawich earned a second-place finish and Miller Kriese raced to fifth place. Lesawich and Kriese have met qualifying times set by Biathlon Canada to compete at Nationals.
– Submitted story
