By Maya Abraham
The Nelson Nordic Ski Club’s team went above and beyond at the BC Cup in Salmon Arm last weekend.
The ski team brought nine athletes to compete against teams such as Telemark (Kelowna), Larch Hills (Salmon Arm) and Hollyburn (Vancouver).
Five hundred racers competed from all over B.C., with some racers from Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Oregon, and even a racer from Norway. Despite being one of the smallest teams there, the Nelson Nordic ski team had excellent results, with top five finishes from six out of nine athletes.
On Saturday, classic sprints were held in a kings court format for the younger athletes, while the older athletes participated in elimination rounds. On Sunday, the skiers participated in a longer skate technique race, ranging from 2.2 kilometres for Nelson’s youngest athletes to nine km for the more experienced athletes.
Dawson Abraham won both his sprint and his under-12 boys 2.5-km course race, while Aleah Smith earned two bronze medals in each of the races for the U12 girls.
“Dawson and Aleah had excellent showings,” said coach Thomas Dodsworth, “especially considering this was their first BC Cup.”
In a massive field of 45, Kaelum Smith placed 17th in the sprints, and 14th in the distance for the U14 boys. Maya Abraham placed 12th in the sprints and seventh in a field of 48 for the U14 girls.
“It was tight competition” said Kaelum Smith. “Every second counted out there.”
Zoe Taylor placed 14th in the sprints for the U18 girls.
Dodsworth won the distance category for the masters men 30-39, while Doris Hausleitner won her race for the sprints in the masters women 40-49 category and placed fourth in her distance race. Kim Poole was the master men’s 60-69 category winner on both days, and Louise Poole also won the women’s 60-69 category for the distance race.
It was a very successful weekend for the Nelson team, and a very enjoyable one for everyone. The Nelson Nordic team thanks Larch Hills Ski Club for a very well-organized event despite battling a huge snow fall, hundreds of trees down and power outages.
