Morning Star Staff
Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre skiers owned the podium at the Canadian Masters Championships in Golden last weekend.
It was the largest national masters nordic event in in recent history.
Sovereign athletes pocketed more than their share of the medals as Sarah Purslow won gold medals in the 10-kilometre and 30-km classic races, and Olav Stana won two gold, in the 20-km and 10-km skate.
Mae Hooper won two gold and a silver in the 20-km skate, and the 30-km and 10-km classic races, while Dan Streichert bagged bronze in the 10-km skate.
Mae Hooper won two gold and a silver in the 20-km skate and 30-km and 10-km classic events, Trevor Embleton took bronze in the 10-km classic and Glenn Bond swept his division with four gold in the 10-km and 20-km skates, and 10-km and 30-km classic races.
The Golden Nordic Ski Club also hosted their annual Huckleberry Loppet which saw Eric and Sydney Embleton win their age categories Saturday.
“It was a great week of racing and reconnecting with friends made during the Sparkling Hill Masters World Cup last year,” said Bond. “The excitement in cross country skiing right now is so great. The Canadian National XC Ski Team wrapped up the FIS World Cup this weekend as well in Falun, Sweden and Canada has become a powerhouse on the World Cup circuit.”
Meanwhile, Enderby’s Alysson Marshall cracked the all- important top-30 with a 28th in the first stage of the World Cup Cross Country Sprint finals in Sweden last Wednesday, earning her first World Cup points.
The one-kilometre event was held up and down the stairs of the King’s Palace and in the streets of Stockholm. Pitted against the top women on the race circuit in her quarterfinal, Marshall, who was nursing a bad cold, failed to progress to the semifinals.
The World Cup finals consisted of four stages. Marshall completed the second stage in Falun Sweden, the 2.5-km skate up the infamous “Murder Hill.” She was 49th.
Marshall began the third stage, one of her favorite events, the 10-km classic only to withdraw due to the severe effects of her cold.
Marshall has had 14 World Cup starts this season with eight starts beginning in March in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Poland with additional OPA races in Estonia.
In November and December, she had six WC starts in Germany and Finland. Prior to winning her first WC points, she has been just one second off the top 30 in three Sprints in her rookie year on the World Cup circuit.
The Canadian team went to Quebec on Monday to compete in Canadian Nationals which began Tuesday.
Marshall is a member of the National Team and World Cup Ski Academy in Canmore, Alta. She is from the Enderby/Salmon Arm area and trained with the Sovereign Lake Nordic Racing Team in the past.
