Twenty-six members of the Telemark cross-country race team took part in the BC Championships at the Larch Hills ski club in Salmon Arm last weekend leading the club to a third place overall showing at the two-day championship.
Over 380 racers took part in the championships with Telemark finishing only behind the host Larch hills club out of Salmon Arm and the Hollyburn club out of Vancouver in the club aggregate standings.
Saturday’s classic technique event was held in very difficult conditions as temperatures hovered around the freezing mark with snow falling. That led the track to be a mixture of soft snow and glazed icy track depending on the section of the course.
Every club struggled to find the correct wax. Telemark’s waxing team for the most part was able to find a good combination of grip and glide for the races.
In the end the Telemark club brought home four gold medals, five silvers and seven bronze medals.
•In the atom boys category 1.5km boys race Erik Haaheim (ATB4) placed fourth and Ian Mayer (ATB4) was sixth. Cameron Hobbs (ATB3) placed fifth in his category.
•In the pee wee category Aaron Myshak Davis (PB2) was second. In the PB1 category Grayson McKinnon was second while Tristan Lee was seventh and Connor Hobbs was ninth. •In the pee wee girls race Sophie LaChappelle was 12th.
•In the pee wee category 3.5km race, Ian Williams placed second, Ben Shipley finished sixth and Scott McKinnon placed eighth. In the girls race Kennedy Dickie was fifth, Sally Haaheim was 10th, Abigail Ertel was 12th and Piper Barta was 15th.
•In the midget category 5km boys race Gareth Williams led the way with a second place finish while James Sader was seventh. In the girls race Veronika Dimova placed sixth, Madeline Ertel was seventh and Madison Dickie was eighth and Jillian Sader was sixteenth.
•In the juvenile girls race Dana Allen placed ninth.
•In the Junior boys 7km event Jon Sader was sixth while in the girls race Alex Myshak-Davis was first overall.
•In the Junior Men category Jeff Kerkovius finished second and Kurt Behnsen was third. Kerkovius’ performance was impressive as he skied 3km on one ski as his binding popped off his ski. He was able to continue his race after he was able to put the binding back on the ski.
Sunday’s relay races saw more outstanding results for Telemark
•Telemark entered two teams in the boys 3×1.5km event. The team of Ian Williams, Aaron Myshak-Davis and Matt Shipley placed third while the team of Scott Mckinnon, Ian Mayer and Grayson McKinnon placed seventh. In the girls 3×1.5km the team of Sally Haaheim, Abigail Ertel and Piper Barta crossed the line in 12th place.
•In the midget category 3×2.5km relay the boy’s team of Gareth William, James Sader and Ben Shipley was fifth and the girls team of Veronika Dimova, Jillian Sader and Madeline Ertel were third.
•In the junior women category 3×2.5km the team of Mirena Dimova, Dana Allen and Alex Myshak-Davis place fourth.
•In the open men 3x5km race the team of Kurt Behnsen, Jeff Kerkovius and coach Adam Elliot place first and the team of Jon Sader, Joe Wessell and James Williams were sixth.
The next event for six of Telemark’s athletes is the BC Winter Tames in Vernon. For the younger 9-12 year old racers the season ends at the BC Midget Championships hosted by the Telemark Ski Club on March 3 and 4.
