THUNDER BAY – Sports – NDC-Thunder Bay athletes Jack Carlyle and Alannah MacLean came away with gold medals in the Tour de Twin Cities Mini-tour in Golden Valley, MN last weekend. This USSA sanctioned mini-tour had over 400 of some of the top racers from across the United States.
Carlye gave himself a great birthday present, winning the 10km Junior Men’s skate race on Saturday (January 19th), in a time of 22 minutes and 36 seconds. He bested his next competitor, Evan Palmer-Charrette, also of NDC-Thunder Bay by 34 seconds. This is a great confidence boost for Carlye, who was one spot away from qualifying for the World Junior Championship Team 2 weeks ago at the trial races in Thunder Bay.
MacLean, who has been improving race after race, stomped the Junior Women’s mass start classic race on Sunday (January 20th), winning by 1.6 seconds. Competition was tight but MacLean showed her fitness and came out on top.
Both Carlyle and MacLean are also members of the Lakehead Thunderwoves Varisty ski team.
Full results can be found at: http://www.tourdetwincities.com/results/
The NDC-Thunder Bay team is back in action this weekend on the Haywood Noram curcuit just outside of Collingwood, ON at Duntroon Highlands. These races act as selection events for the World Championships.
In other NDC news, the World Junior and U23 Championships are underway in Liberec, Czech Republic. The Canadian Team was hit with some bad luck as they were struck with sickness upon arrival but seem to be coming around. Scott Hill raced in his first international competition on Monday and placed 58th in the classic sprint. He followed the sprint up on Wednesday, crossing the line in 62nd place out of a total of 98 skiers. This is a great result for the young, talented skier as he still has one more year left in the Junior category.
Andrea Lee had a few strong performances finishing 47th in the classic sprint and 40th in the 10km free. Unfortunately, Andy Shields is still fighting sickness and was unable to race in the sprint and skate race.
Racing continues in Liberec with the Skiathlon races tomorrow and Saturday and finishes off on Sunday with the relays.
Full results can be found at http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/1228.html?event_id=31938&cal_suchsector=CC
