THUNDER BAY – The Haywood Noram World Trial races continued today at the Lappe Nordic Ski Centre with classic sprints. It was another exciting day of racing with 4 more world championship starts up for grab. Alberta seemed to be on their A game today as most of the top finishers came from the Alberta World Cup Academy located in Canmore, AB.
In the Junior Women’s 1.2 km classic sprint, Maya MacIsaac-Jones of the Rocky Mountain Racers in Alberta earned herself a spot on the Canadian World Junior team as she crossed the line first in the A final. She shed tears of joy at the finish line with her mom as she has been dreaming of this all year. Alannah MacLean of the National Development Centre-Thunder Bay had a very strong finish as she was close behind MacIsaac-Jones crossing the line in 3rd position.
In the Senior Women’s race, it was Andrea Dupont, also of Rocky Mountain racers taking top honours. Marlis Kromm of Foothills, Alberta and the Alberta World Cup Academy was the top Under 23 racer finishing 5th overall and earned herself a berth to the World Under 23 Championships. Erin Tribe of NDC-Thunder Bay was the top local finisher, placing a strong 6th place.
Another Albertan, Phil Widmer of the Alberta World Cup Academy blew away his competition claiming first in the Senior Men’s 1.4km classic sprint category. Patrick Stewart-Jones of the Alberta World Cup Academy will be going on to represent Canada at the World U23 Championships as he was the top U23 racer today and placed a very strong 2nd place overall. The top local finisher was Michael Somppi finishing in 6th position. One of the most action-packed sprints of the day was in the men’s semi-final heat and included Somppi and 3 other National Ski Team members. It was so close, a photo finish was required to determine which athletes advanced (attached picture). Somppi came out on top and made it to the A final.
Rounding out the World qualifiers for today was Alexis Turgeon of Quebec as he placed first in the Junior Men’s division. Top local finishers were NDC-Thunder Bay’s Scott Hill and Julian Freitag placing 9th and 11th respectively.
Full results can be found at http://zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=5238&cat=all
Tomorrow marks the last day of competition of the Haywood Noram World Trial Races and it is the last chance for athletes to qualify for the Canadian team heading to Liberec, Czech Republic from January 21-27. Athletes will be putting everything on the line and it will make for some exciting racing. The Open Men start at 9am with a 15km interval start skate race while Open Women commence at 11:25 with a 10km interval start skate race. This is also an Ontario Cup race with categories starting at 12:45.
