Vernon skiers tackled the Otway Nordic Centre trails in Prince George last weekend for the first race in the B.C. Teck Cup two-day series.
Day one was all about skate sprints. A total of 10 teens participated in the day’s heats and Sovereign Lake saw success in the following categories: Midget Girls: Paige Latta, bronze; Midget Boys: Ian Oliphant, gold; Juvenile Girls: Hannah Mehain, gold; Emma Smedley, bronze; Juvenile Boys: Matthew Bull, fifth.
On Sunday, the technique turned to classic and some distance races were ran. Sovereign Lake members saw success again in the -9C conditions.: Midget Girls 3.3km: Latta, fourth; Midget Boys 3.3 km: Oliphant, gold; Juvenile Girls 5km: Mehain, silver; Smedley, fifth; Michelle Metza, fifth; Juvenile Boys 5km: Bull fifth.
Mae Hooper competed in the Masters 50-59 age group and skied 7.5-km for silver.
Said Smedley: “The competition was fierce, the races were fast and the wax was fantastic.”
Coach Darren Derochie was pleased with the results and the waxing efforts of Rick Latta and Ralph Smedley helped achieve the wins.
The week before, Sovereign racers swept three of four available Valley spots for the B.C. Winter Games, Feb. 20-23.
Smedley and Carson Bassett in the Juvenile division, and Paige Latta, in the Midget category, will compete at Callaghan Valley in Whistler after winning Okanagan Teck Cup medals at the MacPherson Nordic trails in Revelstoke.
The next event for the team will be the B.C. Teck Cup Race #2 in Kamloops at the end of January.
