Believe it or not, the time for the
OUA Nordic Ski Championships came around again. This year they were held the weekend of
February 24-26, and once again at Laurentian University. This meant that it was scheduled during
reading week, and that most people were at home enjoying some time off with their families. So when the time came to board the bus at
the PAC on the Friday morning, just when we thought we had reached at ultimate
low of team members on the bus, we scored even lower: two people. Coach Derek and athlete Tim Hughes were the
only to representing the team leaving Waterloo. But not to worry, the majority of athletes
were to meet in Sudbury via their own ways of transportation, with Ryan,
Alison and Glenn hitching a ride with Carlton , Martha coming from Timmins
with her parents and Katie getting picked up by the bus at home in Parry
Sound. The ride up was through a snow/slush
storm, so what a relief it was to arrive in Sudbury to skiable, trails, cold
weather and lots of snow.
Every year, the format for the OUA
race weekend changes. This year the
format was middle distance classic and
relay race on Saturday and long distance skate on Sunday. The classic race was 5km and 10km for the Women and Men
respectively, and the skate 10km and 15km.
The relay was not a team sprint like last year, but a 3 by 3km. relay
race.
We awoke to a beautiful, sunny day
Saturday to start off the weekend and the team put forth their best efforts
for the morning's classic race. Results as follows:
|
Place
|
Name
|
1st 5km. Split
Time
|
2nd 5km. Split
Time
|
Total Time for
10km.
|
Time off of First
Place
|
|
23
|
Glenn Hartman
|
14:29
|
15:17
|
29:46
|
+ 4:19.4
|
|
31
|
Tim Hughes
|
15:30
|
16:06
|
31:36.9
|
+6:09.8
|
|
34
|
Ryan McNamara
|
15:54
|
16:20
|
32:15
|
+6:47.9
|
|
39
|
Derek Hartman
|
16:17
|
16:32
|
32:50
|
+ 7:23.2
|
|
Place
|
Name
|
Total time for
5km.
|
Time off of First
Place
|
|
40
|
Alison Stephenson
|
19:12
|
+4:.21.0
|
|
43
|
Katie Madden
|
20:18
|
+5.27.9
|
|
45
|
Martha Sutton
|
20:27
|
+5:36
|
Now, after the classic race was done
the focus was put into good quality recovery, as the relays were to follow
that same afternoon. This involved a
proper race cool down as soon as possible after the race and some recovery
food as soon as possible after that.
Also it must be noted that, despite being retired, Coach Derek decided
to enter the classic race to be able to give the Men's team a full team. The Women's relay was on first, the Warriors
stepped to the line with a team of Alison Stephenson, Martha Sutton and
Katie Madden.
|
Place
|
Leg #
|
Name
|
Time
|
Total Time
|
Time off of First
Place
|
|
10
|
1
|
Alison Stephenson
|
9:35.7
|
28:01.1
|
4:46.6
|
|
|
2
|
Martha Sutton
|
9:46.5
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
Katie Madden
|
8:38.8
|
|
|
|
Place
|
Leg #
|
Name
|
Time
|
Total Time
|
Time off of First
Place
|
|
10
|
1
|
Tim Hughes
|
7:42.4
|
22:45.9
|
3:24.8
|
|
|
2
|
Ryan McNamara
|
7:51.7
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
Glenn Hartman
|
7:11.8
|
|
|
The end of the relays wrapped up the
first day of OUA racing. The winners
for both the Men and Women's individual races, as well as both relays were
Lakehead team members and teams, giving them a lead in the overall team
points. Despite being an OUA category
race, many of the top racers were athletes that are currently full time or are
racing at the NorAM level, making both the Men's and Women's fields pretty
deep. After an especially exhausting
day of racing, the Warriors went back to the hotel for some napping, feeding,
race talking, and yet more sleep. We
arose yet again to a beautiful, crisp sunny day for the second day of
OUA's. Skate results are as follows:|
Place
|
Name
|
1st 5km. Split
Time
|
2nd 5km. Split
Time
|
3rd 5km. Split
Time
|
Total Time for
15km.
|
Time off of first
Place
|
|
20
|
Glenn Hartman
|
14:24.1
|
14:56.5
|
14:43.6
|
44:04.3
|
+4:42.9
|
|
34
|
Tim Hughes
|
15:40.5
|
15:50.1
|
16:23.5
|
47:54.2
|
+8:32.8
|
|
37
|
Ryan McNamara
|
15:31.3
|
16:08.8
|
16:45.8
|
48:35.9
|
+ 9:14.5
|
|
Place
|
Name
|
1st 5km. Split
Time
|
2nd 5km. Split
Time
|
Total Time for 10km
|
Time off of First
Place
|
|
28
|
Alison Stephenson
|
18:02.8
|
17:57.1
|
35:59.9
|
4:40.9
|
|
30
|
Katie Madden
|
18:12.5
|
17:53.8
|
36:06.3
|
4:47.3
|
|
40
|
Martha Sutton
|
20:15.2
|
20:34.7
|
40:50.0
|
9:31.0
|
Alas, the Waterloo Warriors had
posted some great results yet again.
Considering the depth of both field's each athletes rankings were
commendable, overall rankings can be seen at www.zone4.ca.
The next and last
race on the agenda will be the Ontario Cup #4, hosted by Highlands Nordic in
Duntroon, Ont. Congratulations Warriors!
