Submitted by Kimberley Nordic Club
The last couple of weeks have been busy for the Kimberly cross country ski team as they represented our town in three different venues to compete in various races.
READ MORE: Skiers attend TEck Regional Snow Camp
READ MORE: Kimberley Nordic Club builds on past success
On the weekend of the 8 and 9th of December six racers headed to the Vernon area to participate in the 2018 Maywood NorAm/US Super Tour. This is North America’s largest cross country ski club located in the Silver Star Provincial Park and are considered high-level competition race. Day 1 in the 5km skate ski Kimberley Nordic had a strong showing in the junior girls category with Marielle Ackerman in 1st, Quinn Morgan in 3rd, Sydney Wilson in 5th and Adeline Charles 21st out of 28 skiers from western Canada. Ben Gadd had a strong race and came in 11th in the junior boys race. In the 2.5 km skate ski Sadie Demars placed 5th. The second day was dedicated to the classic style of cross country skiing. Completing a distance of 10 km Ben finished 28th in the Junior Boys and Sadie placed 19th in the 2.5 km. The junior girls had a designated distance of 5km in their classic race in which Quinn came 2nd, Marielle came 3rd and Adeline placed 24th.
Rossland BC hosted the first of several Teck Kootenay Cups on the weekend of December 15th and 16th where several racers from the Kimberley Nordic Club attended including racers ranging from bantam through to masters. The first day was a classic race and wax technicians where struggling to get the right amount of grip due to inconsistent temperatures which hovered around 0. Kimberley Nordic had several successful placing with Ennis Christie achieving a 2nd, Sadie Demars finishing 5th, Roan Christie placing 3rd, and Darah Clarke receiving 1st. In the master program there were three competitors Mark Koenig placing 6th, Heather Lamson finishing 2nd, and Delia Christianson finishing 6th. The second day of the Teck Cup was focused on skate skiing. Sadie placed 2nd while Darah took 1st in her category. In the master’s race Heather placed 2nd and Delia placed 7th.
On the same weekend the three day Haywood NorAm World Junior U23 Trial in Canmore Alberta was taking place. These races were qualifiers for the Junior World Championships in Finland this year. Three KIXS girls were competing against the best skiers in the country most hoping for a spot on the Canadian Team. Marielle Ackerman advanced into heats of the 1.4km classic sprint but after a technical error was eliminated. Local resident Molly Miller (racing for Blackjack Nordic) finished second overall in the sprints. In the 5 km skate Marielle placed 10th, Sydney Wilson (8 seconds back) finished 14th, and Quinn Morgan got 17th. The 15km classic was a tough race with Marielle placing 6th, Quinn 10th, and Sydney in 22nd. Molly Miller won the 5km race, securing a spot for herself on the Canadian Team. The last day was a 15km classic mass start event, a distance that our team had never raced before. with Sydney in 22nd, Quinn in 10th and Marielle in 6th. Ben Gadd also joined the team for races in Canmore on Saturday and Sunday.
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