December 20, Monte-Sainte-Anne.
Skiers from both the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay, and Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club (BTNSC) continued their winning ways racing in the second and final Eastern Canada Cup of the season in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec this past weekend.
In the classic interval start on Saturday, NTDC had some super results, with Julian Smith adding another gold to his pile from the last three weekends of competition and Pierre Grall-Johnson grabbing another bronze. Kendyn Mashinter skied strong and made the podium with a 3rd place finish in the U20 men, while Max Mahaffy and Guillaume Pelchat snagged 10th and 15th in the same category.
On the women’s side, Shaylynn Loewen had another good result, earning 3rd place in open women, while Sophie Tremblay skied hard to claim 4th in the U20 women.
NTDC Coach Timo Puiras commented, “The team has had exceptional results over the past three weekends of competition. I am extremely proud of their accomplishments so far and we are excited to see continued success as the season unfolds.”
NTDC athletes weren’t the only Thunder Bay skiers who had good results Saturday. Max Hollmann of BTNSC had a fantastic race in the U20 category, finishing second, and Sara Cullinan, also of BTNSC, skied up an age class and finished an impressive 3rd in the U20 women’s event. Conor McGovern ( BTNSC and a NTDC alum) was 7th in senior men.
In Sunday’s free technique mass start race, Grall-Johnson reached the podium yet again in the senior men’s category with another bronze, and Smith and McGovern finished 12th and 13th respectively. In the U20 men, Pelchat nailed 3rd, Hollmann finished just off the podium in 4th, and Mahaffy had a solid result finishing in 8th.
The women also did some great racing on Sunday. Loewen finished just off the podium, with a 4th in the open women’s event. Cullinan and Tremblay had strong results again, earning 4th and 5th in the U20 women.
For full results see https://zone4.ca/race/2021-12-19/cc7215f2/results/
With the conclusion of both the Eastern and Western Canada Cup series, elite skiers from across the country will be preparing for the Nordic Junior/U23 World Ski Championships and Olympics Games Trials scheduled for January 6-11 in Canmore AB. You can count on Thunder Bay being well represented there.
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For more information contact: Heather Foster [email protected] 807-629-3489
Caption: Fleet of race skis waxed and ready to be selected by racers.
Photo Credit: Timo Puiras
Caption: Julian Smith and Pierre Grall-Johnson took gold and bronze Saturday in the senior men’s interval start classic race at the Eastern Canada Cup held in Mont-Sainte Anne Quebec, putting multiple NTDC athletes on Canada Cup podiums for the third weekend in a row.
Photo Credit: Timo Puiras