GATINEAU, QUE./OTTAWA, ONT.: A Fall River cross-country skiier earned double gold at the recently held Eastern Canada FIS Cup/Candy Cane Cup championship.
The championship was held Dec. 15-17 at the Nakkertok Nordic Ski Centre in Gatineau, Quebec.
Nova Scotia sent a team athletes to compete against more than 600 racers from across 50 clubs in Eastern Canada and beyond.
Cross Country Nova Scotia head coach Daniel Murray led the team into competition in Gatineau.
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Fall River’s Emma Archibald, who competes with the uOttawa Nordiq team, started off the new season on the right foot with a pair of wins.
Archibald, who is a member of the Nordiq Canada Development Team, earned gold in sprint freestyle para-nordic standing, and in distance classic para-nordic standing.
Meanwhile, other N.S. athletes had great performances—ones that they can build momentum from for the season ahead.
Milo Sircom-Brown placed 14th in sprint qualifier, advanced to quarter-finals, and posted 24th and 22nd rankings in distance freestyle and distance classic events.
Cohen Norman clocked 20th in distance freestyle, 17th in sprint qualifier, and 23rd in distance classic.
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The N.S. provincial team athletes, whose home club is Scotia XC Ski Club, gained plenty of experience at the event, under Murray’s direction.
Races were organized on three courses, which included: 1 km sprint course, 1.3 km sprint course and 2.5 km distance course; on the homologated “Nakkertrak” training and race loop, which is supported by artificial snowmaking.
Known as the Candy Cane Cup, this racing event is part of the Nordiq Canada Eastern Canada Cup series, CCUNC, the Ontario Cup and the Quebec Cup.
Provincial team alumni earned strong results. Athletes included: Fiona McClure, Maggie McClure, Ogen Newcomb, and Colin Ward; all current members of Carleton Ravens Nordic Ski team.
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Other race highlights were:
· Fiona McClure, Carleton University racer and NS Ski Team alumni, earned 13th place in the open women’s classic distance event (32nd in open/U18);
· Maggie McClure, Carleton University racer and NS Ski Team alumni, progressed to finals and secured 5th place in the open women’s sprint, freestyle. McClure finished 6th in freestyle distance. A strong classic distance race for McClure, she placed 2nd in senior category, (3rd, CCUNC, 4th Open/U18);
· Ogen Newcomb, Carleton University racer and NS Ski Team alumni, finished 21st in senior men’s 4.6 km freestyle. He finished 20th in distance classic;
· Colin Ward, Carleton University racer and NS Ski Team alumni, finished 13th in senior men’s 4.6 km freestyle. Ward earned 14th place in distance classic event.
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Murray said the competition was very thick this year, especially in the U18 boys, where fields were up to 82 finishers (in comparison to 69 last year).
“For example, in the individual classic, a performance that would have scored a top 40 this year would have put someone into the top 30 last year,” said Murray.
“With that in mind, I feel that our NS skiers started the season very well and now have very real awareness of where to improve their race performances, especially those who’ll be returning to Nakkertok in March for Ski Nationals.”
