National junior team skiers ruled the Sovereign Lake Open under sunny skies Sunday at Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre.
More than 180 athletes from as far away as Quebec, Ontario and New England competed in classic and freestyle technique races which started Saturday.
Sovereign Lake communications director Bruce Sandlands reports that another 80 people registered in the early-season Cross Country Supercamps the same weekend.
Scott Hill, 20, of Toronto, won the senior men’s open 10-kilometre classic Sunday, in 28 minutes, 57.3 seconds. Hill races for Team Hardwood in Thunder Bay, where he is on the national junior team.
Geoffrey Richards of Team Black Jack in Rossland took second place, at 29:24.4
Jennifer Jackson, 19, of Midhurst, Ont. and also a member of Team Hardwood, claimed the women’s open five-kilometre classic in 17:41.3, 25 seconds faster than Corey Stock of Dartmouth College Big Green near Boston.
Carson Bassett of Sovereign was 17th in the boys 5-km classic, in 18:19, while clubmate Finn Plummber was 22nd, in 19:06.3.
Michelle Metz of the host club placed 18th in the girls 5-km classic, in 21:15.
“Sovereign Lake and Silver Star Mountain are the destination of choice for nordic skiers and are one of the few areas in Canada with sufficient snow to host an early season race such as this,” said Sandlands.
“Thank you to the over 80 club members who volunteered and also thank you to local title sponsors Stussi Sport and Hilltop Subaru and to BC Viasport for their support for this event.”
