THUNDER BAY – NDC-Thunder Bay veteran Michael Somppi claimed a silver medal today competing in his first of four races at the Canada Winter Games in Halifax. Somppi, a native of Thunder Bay just missed the gold medal by a mere 2 seconds in the 10km freestyle race. The eventual winner was Kevin Sandau of Alberta who was also Somppi’s teammate at the World U23 Championships. The Canada Winter Games showcases the best athletes in Canada who are under 23 years of age and by placing second in a field of 48 athletes, Somppi proved once again that he is definitely one of top cross country skiers in the nation for his age. Ontario and NDC teammate Chris Hamilton placed an impressive 6th place. Somppi and Hamilton now hope to carry this momentum into the sprint event taking place tomorrow.
Other top results from Thunder Bay athletes include Jimmy Gunka in 14th and NDC -Thunder Bay member Andy Shields in 12th. On the Women’s side, Erin Tribe and Andrea Lee both of the NDC-Thunder Bay team placed 7th and 21st respectively in a challenging field of 55 competitors.
Racing continues tomorrow at the Martock Ski Centre, located approximately 1.5hrs outside of Halifax with the 1000m sprints for both men and women.