Local Nordic Skiers fare well in Thunder Bay

Members of the North Bay Nordic Ski Team pose for a photo wearing their Ontario Cup medals. Photo submitted.

The North Bay Nordic Junior Ski Team traveled to Thunder Bay recently to participate in the Ontario Cup #2 Race on January 13th and 14th at the Kamview Nordic Centre.

This was the first race of the season in the province for the team, as the lack of snow in Ontario at the beginning of this winter forced the cancellation of several races including the first Ontario Cup scheduled this past December.

Skiers anxiously awaited to race on Saturday, as very cold temperatures, forced the race to be delayed several hours until the air temperature reached a chilly -19 degrees.
The Midget Boys were first out of the gates to race a 3.5km freestyle race.

Adam Birosh, a new North Bay Nordic Junior Ski team member and a first year Midget, raced to a first place finish in both the freestyle race on Saturday and the 3.5km classic race on Sunday with times of 12:15.4 and 12:43.4 respectively.

Also participating in the Midget Race category was Liam Patterson, a Mini-Midget racing up to the Midget category. He obtained an impressive 5th place finish in both the freestyle race in a time of 13:34.5 and the classic race in a time of 15:02.7.

Racing in the Junior Girls 5km freestyle and 5km classic race were veteran skiers Kaytlyn Faucon, who placed 7th in the freestyle race in a time of 17:42.0 and 10th in the classic race in a time of 20:51.0, and Samantha Odrowski who placed 21st in the freestyle race with a time of 20:42.7 and placed 19th in the classic race with a time of 23:35.0.

New team member Nel Vandermeer also raced in the Junior Girls races achieving excellent results with a 20th place finish in a time of 20:15.4 in the freestyle race and a 24th place finish in the classic race with a time of 25:53.4.

The Junior Boys on the team, Jake Porter, Greg Kilroy, Jon Winter and Zale Apramian raced an exciting 10km freestyle and a 10km classic race in cold conditions and icy trails. Jake Porter took 7th place in the freestyle race in a time of 29:16.9 and 8th place in the classic race in a time of 33:53.9. Greg Kilroy had an impressive race with a 10th place finish in the freestyle race in a time of 30:35.7 and an 11th place finish in the classic race with a time of 34:59.0. Jon Winter achieved a 16th place finish in a time of 31:18.4 in the freestyle race, despite losing his pole and his glove on a fall on an icy hill, and he skied for 3kms with only one pole and a very cold hand. Jon placed 17th in Sunday’s classic race in a time of 35:35.5. Zale Apramian raced to a 19th place finish in the freestyle race in a time of 31:45.9 as well as a 19th place finish in the classic race with a time of 36:08.5.

The team will be participating in the Ontario Cup 3/Eastern Canadian Championships on Feb. 2-4th in Gatineau QC.

Submitted by Lynda Patterson, Nordic Ski Club