New Feature! ‘Does this kid know anything??’

Have you ever wondered how much your favourite UW Nordic Ski Team member knows about anything?? His home town, his team, the University of Waterloo, Canadian skiing in general? If the answer is yes, (or if it’s no, too bad) then you’re prepared to love the UWNN new series, ‘Does this kid know anything??’. Although we can't promise to reveal any useful facts or stats stored away in your hero/villain/son/daughter/pyranha’s brain, we can guarantee you a surprise or two. First to take our trivia test is the infamous Andrew Jeffrey…

You’re from Manitoulin Island – what is the current population, according to Wikipedia?

When I look out my window, I can count at least 7, the sign downtown says 1500, but around 18,000. Oh man! 12,600?

Incorrect – 12,600, to be exact

The island has an area of 2,766 km² - where does that rank on the list of Canadian Islands in terms of size?

Largest freshwater Island…77^th.

Incorrect – 31st

 

What is the main fruit of Manitoulin Island?

Only Hawberries grow there, so I’ll go with that.

Correct

Manitoulin Island is right around the corner from Sudbury, Ontario. Which member of the Canadian Olympic team calls Sudbury their hometown?

Devon Kershaw.

Correct

 

Name the three Olympic events in cross country skiing in which Canada has won medals.

Womens? 50km? Womens Pursuit.

Part Marks – Women’s Pursuit is right, also Women’s Sprint, and Women’s Team Sprint.

One of your teammates made a brief foray into distance trail running this fall. Name the teammate, the name of the race, the distance they ran, and the time they ran it in, to the nearest minute.

Kieran, 25 km. 2 hours, 4 minutes.

Part Marks Again– It’s called the Run for the Toad, and the time was 2:01:17.

 

Name places to ski within a 10 minute drive radius from the university of Waterloo.

Bechtel Park, Waterloo Park, North Campus, Schneiders Bush, Laurel Creek, Waterloo Fall loop, Chicopee?

Correct – Although you don’t get anything for Chicopee or the Waterloo Fall Loop behind the arena – you can’t get to Chicopee in 10 minutes, and the Fall Loop is rarely open.

 

Name 3 UW ski team alumni who have been OUA All-Stars.

Nellie Dow, Cam Moore, Justin Faulkner.

Correct

 

Which of the coaching staff do you think can grow the meanest beard/moustache combo?

Colin Rhodes!

Correct – And it’s AWESOME!

Final Score – 15 from a possible 20

‘Does he know anything?’ rating - 75%

 

As per usual, Andrew Jeffrey lays down a strong opening test. Will other team members make him look like a ponce? Stay tuned…

“If You’re not First You’re Last” UW Nordic in North Bay – The One Where They Do The Skate Race

The UWNN is extremely proud to present OUA Qualifier #1 at North Bay Nordic/Nipissing Campus Trail Network. Last season the first OUA Qualifier was also held in North Bay and featured extremely low temperatures, difficult courses, and the UW Nordic Team suffered a total shellacking. However, in 2010 temperatures were 20 degrees warmer, the team consisted of several top notch rookies, including surprise-specialist Henry “H-Bomb” Reich, Tim Rhodes and Alison Stephenson, and the whole team was generally in much greater shape than 365 days earlier. The stage was set for a historic and groundbreaking weekend; luckily the team did not disappoint.

15km Men Free Individual Start/10 km Women Free Individual Start

As has already been noted, the greatest event of the day for the team was Reich’s 1st place. In his first start on the OUA, Reich surprised the heck out of the competition, rendering the ski community speechless, shocked, and left picking up bits of their brains from all over the North Bay Nordic Center their minds were so blown. However, Reich was not the only one to ski a solid race; Andrew Jeffrey skied to a personal OUA best of 7th, showing his phenomenal growth as a skier from complete rookie last fall to OUA Top 10. Kieran “Ola Vigen” Jones also posted an OUA personal best in a skate race, turning in a shocking 12th place for the traditional classic specialist. Jones also continued his domination on the finishing straight, defeating Reich in a head to head shootout to the line to hold onto a perfect 3-0 record in the last 100m this year. Rookie Tim Rhodes crossed the line in 21st in his first OUA race, representing the best Top 4 men the University of Waterloo has posted in at least 4 years. Rookie Ryan McNamara ended his day in 34th, while second-year coop pro Nolan Beanlands finished 36th. Both McNamara and Beanlands represent the future, and their strong results and disgustingly awesome haircuts showcased the potential that exists. As a team, Reich, Jeffrey, Jones and Rhodes managed to secure 3rd spot, just one point back of Laurentian. The other men’s team member to travel was captain Derek Hartman who decided to sit out with a lower body injury. In the unbelievably competitive and hard fought alumni category, coach/athlete Colin Rhodes dominated the field, skiing easily to 1st.

Not to be outdone, the small but feisty Waterloo women also posted a series of First’s. Alison Stephenson, a rookie and emerging powerhouse, finished in 21st in her first OUA race. Heather Foley, a former Laurentian skier turned-awesome at Waterloo crossed the line in 26th, kicking off her comeback tour with a solid result. Unfortunately, Jess Stevenson was unable to make the trip due to coop commitments in Calgary, AB, and captain Martha Sutton remains on the long term injury list. However, Sutton was present for picture taking and support.

Stay tuned for the UWNN take on Day 2, otherwise known as “The One Where They Do The Classic Race”

NewsFlash from North Bay! Absolute Domination!

The UWNN is happy to report on the first day of racing at North Bay Nordic. The women's squad skied 10 km skate individual start, and had a fast, hard course to work with. Both Heather Foley and Alison Stephenson posted quick times, but unfortunately at this time official results are not available.

In the 15 km skate mens individual start, UW's Henry Reich shocked the field with his 1st place finish, besting Colin Abbott of Carleton University by 6 seconds. The word around the Nordic Center was 'astonishment', as Carleton, Laurentian and many other schools could not understand who this 'Henry Reich' character was. This historic finish by a UW athlete is the best placing in the last 4 years, and today was only the first OUA race. Stay tuned, because you're not going to want to miss out on this season!

UWNN

URGENT INFORMATION! No, really, it is. You could live without it, but you wouldn’t enjoy the type of life you would be living.

With significant action on the UW Nordic Team front these days, rumours have been swirling. These rumours are about anything from the multiple locations of the North Bay OUA Qualifiers, the participating female UW team, and the persistent questions about the origins and sheer awesomeness of Henry Reich. In attempt to quell these rumours, the UWNN has steered completely around them and instead opted to inform the team of the upcoming mandatory* team activity. Team half-buzz-half-shave-cuts! The UWNN can feel the excitement radiating out from the team. Now, it is understandable you may have no idea what the UWNN is describing.

 

 

Courtesy Vincent Van Gogh

 

As you can see clearly from an artists interpretation, this involves hair removal on one half of the face and head but not the other. It has been guaranteed as the fastest possible combination of hair for ski racing, tested extensively by the Republic of South Africa’s ski team. Fortunately, for this operation you need to bring nothing but a beard and a full head of hair – trimming equipment will be provided on site.

The UWNN is here for your well being, so trust us.

 

 

 

 

*Please refer to Form 3b, Section 22.2a, SubSection 12ii, where team members signed away the right to choose your own haircut.

Further elaboration…

For those of you unsure of what “the same fashion as that of the World Cup” means, refer to this handy-dandy table for all your point collection needs.

 

Place	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Points	100	80	60	45	30	20	10	1

 

Similar to the World Cup, but not exactly the same.

 

Petra Majdic, member of the Slovenian World Cup Team – not currently on the UW Ski Team, but has an incredibly awesome suit.

UW Cup – Like the World Cup, but without all the sponsors, prize money, city sprints and Petter Northug Jr.

At a recent exclusive to the UWNN press conference, coach Colin Rhodes announced the reinstatement of University of Waterloo Cup. The UW Cup is awarded to the most successful male and female skiers on the UW ski team each year, based on consistency, speed, and “square feet of pure awesomeness” to quote some random TV commercial. Rhodes outlined the 18 races counting towards the overall, and the points are organised in the same fashion as that of the World Cup. As with the World Cup, whomever amasses the most points over the course of the season is declared the winner, and receives a truckload of bragging rights.* Notable races on the schedule include Eastern Canadians (held at Nakkertok in Ottawa) as well as the OUA Championships, and the Olympics. Television coverage will be limited, as will live results, and the best way to follow your favourites is right here on the UWNN sidebar.

The UW Cup is the premiere title to win as a member of the UW Nordic Ski team, and has seen past winners such as Justin Faulkner, Andrea Dupont, Ian Murray among many other prominent figures.

It’s the New Year, and with 2010 comes a new age in UWNN reporting – there will be a minimum of two content updates a week for the entire ski season – stay tuned!

Sincerely,

The UWNN Staff

 

*Please be prepared to provide your own truck.