Jessica Demers Recruited to Lakers Nordic Ski Team

Nipissing Nordic is happy to announce that Jessica Demers has made the commitment to sign on to ski for the Lakers for the 2013/14 season.

Demers comes in ranked second among junior girls (ages 16/17) in Ontario, with a bronze medal from this year’s early season Continental Cup races in Silverstar, British Columbia. Hailing from Timmins, Ontario, she is a member of the Ontario Ski Team and the Porcupine Ski Runners Club.

She trained with the Lakers Nordic program over the past dryland season, coached by Ontario Ski Team head coach, Pav Sudrich, and Lakers coach, Toivo Koivukoski.

“It has been a pleasure to work with Jess over this past year and to see her commitment to training and the sport,” said Koivukoski.

“We spent nine days working technique at the Ontario on-snow training camp in Germany this past August, and it is clear that Jess is a driven athlete, bringing intensity and a practice-positive attitude to every workout.”

Demers has been a presence on the national nordic ski scene for the past three years. Besides skiing, she has competed in cross-country running, mountain biking, road biking, kayaking and swimming, all beneficial to her off-season training to help her develop and reach her potential as an athlete.

“I am very excited to ski for Nipissing Nordic,” Demers said.

“I’ve heard and witnessed that they have a really good team that gets along really well. They are very serious and dedicated, and help each other out.”

Demers is aiming for a top-ten finish at this year’s National Championships at the Olympic Park in Whistler, British Columbia, and should continue to stand out on the Ontario circuit. She will compete this year with wax and race support from Nipissing Nordic and the partnered North Bay Nordic race team.

On her choice, Demers reflected that “I have chosen Nipissing University because they are a very good school for the Business Administration program that I am going into and their class sizes meet my preferences. It's close to home and their skiing facilities are right on campus. Plus, they have a brand new gym and library.”

Having Demers on the team will be a boost to performance, helping put Nipissing on the map as the place to ski and study in Canada.

Submitted to BayToday.ca