CHARLOTTETOWN: The red rosy cheeks and smile on Emma Archibald’s face indicated how much effort was needed to bring home a gold medal for Team Nova Scotia on Feb. 28 at the 2023 Canada Games.
Archibald finished ahead of Ontario’s Maddison Mullin, who grabbed silver in the 2.5 kilometre Classic Para Nordic Standing Female race that capped off the day of competition in cross country skiing at Mark Arendz Provincial Ski Park (not the main facility).
There was a third racer, however there’s a rule that says if only three racers only top two get a medals thus only two medals were given out.
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Shortly after taking some photos with her teammates and family, including her parents, Archibald spoke to The Laker News on what the gold medal means.
“I’m just very happy to be able to do this with this team,” said Archibald, who is fresh off an OUA gold with uOttawa Nordiq. “It’s really exciting to be able to get one more gold medal for Nova Scotia.”
Asked if this medal helps build the momentum for the week of racing ahead, Archibald said it doesn’t change much as she expected close racing and that’s still what she’s expecting. She won the gold by approximately 18 seconds.
“I think the other races will be on the edge of your seat and close races,” the Lockview High alum said. “I’m just excited to give it my all for the other races.”
Archibald and Team Nova Scotia racers will be back on the course on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. The racers will have Thursday as their off day.
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In other results in cross country skiing involving local athletes, Grace McIntyre and Jack MacMillan also both skied.
McIntyre raced in the 7.5 km Classic female race, which had 62 registered racers.
The University of Ottawa student and uOttawa Nordiq skier came home in 53rd place in a time of 30:17.2.
Teammates Paige Nekila was 56th crossing the line in a time of 32:36.8 and Fiona McClure was 36th in a time of 27:02.9.
Alexandra Luxmore, a skier from B.C. who has connections to Halifax through her mom and dad, was fourth in the race.
MacMillan raced in the 10 km Classic Male race, finishing 48th place in a time of 33:05.4. There were 66 racers take the start.
The Scotia XC Ski Club member’s teammate Milo Sircom-Brown was 22nd; Cohen Norman finished 30th; Lynden Doyon finished 41st.
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Over at the snowboard course, Lantz’s Martin Visser put in a solid two runs, but fell just short of advancing to the finals finishing in 19th place.
It was evident that Visser was pleased with his first run from the look on his face after he finished and came to see his parents and other supporters.
There were 38 competitors in the race, which was split into two heats, so finishing 19th seems like a successful result.
Visser will be back competing on March 4 in the Big Air race at Brookvale.
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At the boxing ring in Summerside, Beaver Bank’s Sierra Eshouzadeh lost a split decision to New Brunswick’s Tessa Scott.
It’s the first time female boxing was part of the Canada Games.
Nova Scotia’s other female boxer, Faith Murphy, also had a match. She lost as well on Feb. 28.
N.S fighters lost all of their matches in action on Feb. 28.
Murphy will have another fight on Friday, while its unsure if the other N.S. fighters will.
The Boxing card is at the Canada Games Multi-Sport Dome At Credit Union Place, home of the Summerside Jr A Capitals.
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Over at Crabbe Mountain, N.B., Fall River’s Caroline Hilton, an athlete with Cheema in Waverley, came home in 51st place out of 63 competitors in the Super G Female race. She had scored a time of 0:54.79.
Hilton’s Bluenose teammates Ella Oakley came home in 29th place with a run time of 0:50.8.
Meanwhile, Jessica Young finished 36th in 0:51.33; Riley Macaulay crossed the line 38th in a time of 0:51.59; Sadie Cooke was 47th in 0:53.58.
Two other Nova Scotian racers, Caitria Sommer, and Jenna Zwicker, did not finish their runs.
