Local Skiers perform well at Nordic Canada Cup

Foret Montmorency, QUE - Local skiers Dave Nighbor, Jesse Winter, Ava Rudachyk, and Jeff Seguin battled through thick, heavy snow and strong winds at the Haywood NorAm Canada Cup race in Forêt Montmorency, Quebec, on Saturday. On Sunday the free-style skate race was the second of the five races to take place.

The Open Men's and Women's competition were loaded with the country's top skiers not at the World Cup, to kick-off the five-race qualifying series which will ultimately determine who will wear the "Maple Leaf" at the World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany in February.

Saturday's race, which saw Canada's elite skiers fight their way through blizzard conditions and 20 centimetres of freshly fallen snow, featured the men's 12 km and women's 5 km classic events.

Nighbor, who just turned 20 and is the youngest member of the Senior National Team, climbed to 4th place finish to complete the race in 34:56, 1:01 behind 1st place 26 year old Chris Jeffries.

"I was pleased with that result", claimed Nighbor, who also had a 5th place finish two weeks ago in the Canada Cup classic sprint event at Silver Star British Columbia during the season opener.

"I feel that I'm beginning to get my race legs," said Nighbor. "It's a long two weeks of racing ahead of us and hopefully I'll have more good races."

Joining Nighbor with the North Bay squad in the Open Men's category was Jeff Seguin. Seguin completed the distance in 34th position with a time of 38:17.

North Bay Junior Racing Team members Jesse Winter and Ava Rudachyk also competed at the event. Winter, a second year Junior Boy raced to a bronze medal and showed that he has potential for strong performances this coming race season. Winter finished the 10 km classic race in 32:36, just 6 seconds behind 1st place John Rennie of Ottawa.

Rudachyk, a second year Junior Girl put in a very respectable performance in the 5 km classic competition with a 5th place finish in 19:48. Alana Thomas of Hardwood
Hills won the race in 17:57.9.


On Sunday, Winter was the 1st Ontario skier to cross the line in the Junior Boy's category and just missed the medal podium with a 4th place finish. Winter crossed the line in 17:04, 42 seconds behind Christian Ruel of Quebec.

Rudachyk put in a top 10 position with a 9th place finish in her category during the 5 km free-style race. Rudachyk finished the competition in 17:20, 1:59 behind Alana Thomas who took gold for the second consecutive day.

In the Open Men's category, Nighbor raced a grueling 30 km free-style skate race for an 13th place finish. Nighbor finished the race 1:24:32. Seguin competed in the same event with a 34th place finish in 1:34:52.

Nighbor concludes the second day of the qualifying races ranked in 6th place overall and is in contention to qualify for the World Championships.

Linnea Rudachyk, formally of the North Bay Junior Racing Team competed in the 15 km Open Women's event and completed the race in 41st place with a time of 55:32.

Haywood Canada Cup NorAm racing continues on Wednesday at Mont Ste Anne, Que. with sprint racing.



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