This weekend (January 25-26, 2012) Ontario university skiers are converging from around the province in Sudbury at Laurentien University for the OUA Nordic Championships. Most of the Waterloo team has spent the last week skiing on snow (a luxury in Waterloo) and resting and refuelling in the comforts of their parent's homes. This hopefully has prepared the Waterloo athletes well for successful races this weekend.
Friday morning the snow started falling across Ontario and UW Nordic skiers crawled out bed in Ottawa, Parry Sound, Timmins, Huntsville, and Waterloo. I grew up in Ottawa and spent the past week there visiting with my family and catching up on school work. I was lucky to be able to travel with the Carleton team to OUAs (as I have for the past 2 years). The bus was scheduled to be loaded at 6:00 am and leave at 6:20am. OK, that's not too early. I set an alarm for 5:40am (or so I thought so). I packed my bags the night before and left them at the back door ready to be loaded into the car first thing the next morning. Fast forward to this morning... My Dad got up and left the hallway light on so I knew it was about time to get up but I also knew he was planning on getting up before me. I am kinda awake but don't fell like getting out of bed and will just wait for my alarm to go off before I get up. I roll over to check my clock. 5:57am. Not the time I expected! I flew out of bed and got dressed in the clothes I left out and ran downstairs. The 6 o'clock news was starting on the radio. I rushed my Dad out the door to load the car and leave. 6:07, pulling out of the driveway. 6:10, arriving at Carleton. Well that was I close call I don't plan on repeating.
I made it and that's all that counts. Looking forward to the weekend races. Saturday will be two races: a short distance classic race in the morning and a skate team relay in the afternoon. Sunday will be a mass start distance skate race.
Let the races begin.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Warriors head East: Eastern Canadian Championships 2012
 |
| Alison during the 10km. skate |
The team arrived just in time to catch the end of semi-final and final sprint races, the finals for each being between some of the country's fastest skiers- which if not awesome to spectate got us in the mood for a race, and at the least got rid of the post-bus blues. Only one Waterloo athlete competed in the sprints:
Place
|
Name
|
Time for 1.4km Free
|
88
|
Glenn Hartman
|
3:34
|
 |
| Waxing in no joke to Coach Colin |
The race course for the the rest of the weekend was to be the same 5km loop that was used for the distance races in previous years, and laps of that would be done for each of the various distances. The terrain itself was somewhat of a challenge though. Off the start was a short loop of gradual ups and downs, which worked as a good section for the pack to thin out off the start, as a place to establish your pace and to work out those start line jitters. Following was a streak through the stadium, a gradual climb up power line, and a grueling climb up Montee McCarthy- arguably the hardest part of the course. It was down Dirk's dive after this, up Chute Charon, down and back into the stadium for the final turn to the finish. Saturday's freestyle race was 10km for the women and 15km for the men, so two and three laps of said course respectively.
The UW teams results are as follows:
Women:
Place
|
Name
|
1st 5km lap time
|
2nd 5km lap time
|
Total time for
10km
|
73
|
Katie Madden
|
17:26
|
17:26
|
34:52
|
76
|
Alison Stephenson
|
17:42
|
17:59
|
35:42
|
Men:
Place
|
Name
|
1st 5km lap time
|
2nd 5km lap time
|
3rd 5km lap time
|
Total time for
15km (skate)
|
76
|
Glenn Hartman
|
13:25
|
14:11
|
13:54
|
41:32
|
126
|
Tim Hughes
|
14:54
|
15:56
|
16:22
|
47:12
|
136
|
Ryan McNamara
|
15:44
|
16:39
|
16:15
|
48:38
|
 |
So the team finished up strong (always) and made their way back to the hotel. It was still quite early in the day and so the opportunity was had to enjoy the beautiful winter weather and the start of Winterlude, delve into some much need studying or-the popular choice- nap time. All was well with the usual UW hotel happenings, and lots of food, water and sleep were to be had in preparation for the next day's long distance races.
Sunday's races were 15 and 30km classic for the women and men, respectively. The course remained the same as the day before which meant 3 laps for the women and an astonishing 6 for the men. Unfortunately though we were one athlete short as Glenn was not well enough to race that day. Another look at UW's impressive results...
Women:
Place
|
Name
|
1st 5km lap time
|
2nd 5km lap time
|
3rd 5km lap time
|
Total time for
15km (classic)
|
72
|
Alison Stephenson
|
20:32
|
21:21
|
21:21
|
1:03:15
|
78
|
Katie Madden
|
22:34
|
22:52
|
23:52
|
1:09:20
|
Men:
Place
|
Name
|
1st 5km lap time
|
2nd 5km lap time
|
3rd 5km lap time
|
4th 5km lap time
|
5th 5km lap time
|
6th 5km lap time
|
Total time for
30km
|
111
|
Ryan McNamara
|
16:28
|
17:48
|
18:11
|
18:48
|
19:13
|
19:16
|
1:49:46
|
127
|
Tim Hughes
|
16:34
|
17:42
|
19:30
|
20:31
|
22:15
|
22:28
|
1:59:02
|
.jpg) |
| Ryan, although I think this is during the skate race... |
Everybody managed to keep it together enough maintain a consistent and strong race. The most impressive result coming from the second day of racing though was Ryan's time of 1:49:46, in comparison to last year's time of 2:12:45, a whopping 23 min faster on the exact same course. Wow!
The bus was boarded quickly as we still had a 7ish hour drive ahead of us, making for one long day. For myself, and I think I speak for many others, the return back to reality/school was dreaded. It's that time of year when those awful things called midterms start happening to you and so one must often face the choice of sleep/recovery vs. studying vs. training. The team does have this coming weekend off from racing though, which will be a welcome break to catch up on this whole school thing, and possibly get some easier training in. The next voyage for the Warriors will be to Sudbury, Feb. 24-26 for the OUA Nordic Skiing Championships. In farewell, I unfortunately will not be saying 'happy skiing', or 'happy trails' because I have wholeheartedly given up on skiing in Waterloo. If you are fortunate to have snow wherever you are do enjoy it, but please, try not to make the rest of us too envious.
 |
| Alison during the 15km classic |
Monday, January 23, 2012
Snow? and Racing? North Bay OUA Invitational 2012
Scheduled this weekend of January
21-23 was the North Bay Nordic/Nipissing Invitational Race. Although there had been previous scheduled
races this season and a couple of time trials, this was the first major race
for the Waterloo Nordic Ski Team. It
was similar to last year's race in that format was the same- skate races on
the Saturday and classic races on Sunday but it differed in that both the Men and Women were to ski the same
distances and the forecasted temperatures weren't an unbearable -30 degrees.
From Waterloo left coaches Colin and
Derek, and athletes Martha, Lucy, Tim, Ryan, Alison and Katie. We were joined in North Bay by Glenn who
travelled from Ottawa. Friday met us
with some chillier temperatures but the skate race course was skied by the
team- two laps around the red trail for both men and women. For those unfamiliar with North Bay Nordic
trails the red course is essentially a long
gradual uphill, a series of rolling ups and downs, a climb up the
"wall", yet more gain in elevation, about 1km of downhill back to
the stadium and, for this race, a lap around the stadium, a repeat of previous said course and back down to the
finish. To finish off the first day of
the weekend the coaches stuck around to do some wax testing in preparation for
Saturday's race and the athletes returned to the hotel for a room-cooked meal
and an early bedtime.
Saturday's race had quite a later
start than usual- the race didn't start until 12pm. For most athletes it was a nice relief to
have such a long time to wake up, prepare for the day, and then extra time at
the race site to warm up and make it to the much-anticipated start line on
time. The men were scheduled to race
first and the results are as follows:
Place
|
Name
|
1st 5km Lap Time
|
Second 5km Lap
Time
|
Total Time for
10km
|
18
|
Glenn Hartman
|
16:06
|
16:57
|
33:04
|
33
|
Tim Hughes
|
17:50
|
19:00
|
36:51
|
38
|
Ryan McNamara
|
18:44
|
19:47
|
38:31
|
And for the Women:
|
Place
|
Name
|
1st 5km Lap Time
|
Second 5km Lap
Time
|
Total Time for
10km
|
|
25
|
Alison Stephenson
|
20:12
|
20:54
|
41:06
|
|
27
|
Katie Madden
|
20:44
|
21:03
|
41:47
|
|
42
|
Lucy Yao
|
28:30
|
31:04
|
59:35
|
It was somewhat challenging for us Southern Ontario-ers as we've had significantly less time on skis than some of the northern schools. Regardless, everyone put forth their best effort and some decent results were found, with Glenn having the best placing within the team. Saturday night was the usual post-race/pre-race happenings and all was prepared for the following day's race.
The forecast for Sunday was supposed
to be a step warmer than Saturday, but as we arrived to the race site we found
that it felt significantly colder than Saturday. The start was more of a usual 10am time- the
men's race starting the clock and the women's starting 25 minutes after. The race course was North Bay's blue
extension trail instead of the red. This was beneficial for a classic race
because there weren't nearly as many steep climbs to herringbone up, but
rather more gradual hills which were easily stride-able. The disadvantage to this course was that
many athletes had not skied the course in the past and there was very little
time and/or energy to ski the course after Saturday's race. As a result a number of athletes saw the course for the
first time during their race. Even so,
most athletes were quite pleased with their results.
Men's:
Place
|
Name
|
Total Time for
10km
|
13
|
Glenn Hartman
|
28:57
|
21
|
Tim Hughes
|
32:25
|
33
|
Ryan McNamara
|
34:10
|
Women's:
|
Place
|
Name
|
Total Time for
10km
|
|
19
|
Alison Stephenson
|
38:25
|
|
29
|
Martha Sutton
|
42:24
|
|
31
|
Katie Madden
|
43:53
|
|
36
|
Lucy Yao
|
1:00.0
|
Once again, Glenn was the best
ranked on the team, with an excellent placing of 13th. For most, Sundays results were welcomed
with much more pleasure for the team.
-
The race weekend finished up quite
early and we were able to depart by about 12:30 to embark on the trek to the
land-of-no-snow. To our surprise there
was snow on the ground upon arrival, even enough for skiing! However, our hopes were once again crushed
with a morning of rain. Oh well, to
Mono Nordic next weekend it is for the Mono Nordic Ski Race, as it is
officially called on Zone4. Until then,
happy skiing, slush-skiing or whatever the heck it is we're supposed to be
doing until then.
Glenn
Lucy
Alison
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Back to Highlands/Time Trial #2
This past weekend it was our earnest
intention to race at the Wasaga Loppet. There was, however, not enough snow on
the ground to have that fulfilled. But good old Highlands had more then enough snow for
a weekend of skiing, and so trips were planned for both Saturday and
Sunday. Saturday's schedule was a day
of nice easy skiing, with some technique work, and for Sunday there was a time
trial planned, in which we would be joined by Guelph.
On Saturday Derek, Ryan and Katie
made the trek, enjoyed some beautiful sunshine
(although it was still quite chilly)
and both Katie and Ryan got some classic technique expertise from
Derek.
Sunday came around and a few more
Waterloo athletes came along, this time it was Colin, Alison, Lucy, Katie and
Ryan. The time trial was to be 5km
classic for the women and 10km classic for the men. After the appropriate wax was chosen for the
day, everyone waxed up and made their way up the glacier to the start
line. The results are as follows:
Men's:
|
Place
|
Name
|
5km Split Time
|
2nd 5km Split
Time
|
Total Time
|
|
1
|
Matti*
|
15:42
|
16:18
|
32:00
|
|
2
|
Erin P.*
|
15:55
|
16:23
|
32:18
|
|
3
|
Graham*
|
16:52
|
17:00
|
33:52
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6
|
Tim H
|
17:14
|
18:16
|
35:30
|
|
7
|
Colin
|
18:06
|
18:42
|
32:56
|
|
11
|
Ryan
|
19:35
|
20:24
|
39:59
|
Women's
|
Place
|
Name
|
5km total
|
|
1
|
Laura*
|
19:46
|
|
|
|
|
|
4
|
Alison
|
21:25
|
|
5
|
Katie
|
25:07
|
|
6
|
Lucy
|
33:00
|
*denotes a Guelph
skier
It was a great race experience to
get out onto some real snow, as neither Waterloo or Guelph has ski-able snow. Next weekend both teams will
travel to North Bay to participate in the North Bay/Nipissing OUA
invitational.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Time Trial # 1
Early Sunday, January 8, 2012 the UW Nordic
ski team rolled out of bed and started the drive from Waterloo to Highlands
Nordic for a 10km skate time trial with Queens University and The University of
Toronto. In Waterloo, the snow was just dusting the grass blades, but as the
cars drove north the snow began to accumulate and at Highlands the snow was
perfect for the upcoming time trial; a hard base from a thaw earlier in the
week covered in a few centimeters of fresh snow.
The morning at Highlands began with the
confirmation of the time trial course. The primary concern in choosing the
course was the likelihood other recreational skiers would also be using those
trials. In the end it was determined the course would consist of two 5km laps
starting and finishing at Larry’s glacier following a mix of the red and yellow
trail markers.
Shortly after 10:00am, Seven Waterloo
skiers lined up to start, two men and four women (finally the ladies are
outnumbering the men). Ryan, Tim H., and Colin lead the charge for the Waterloo
men. After the first few climbs Colin dropped out still suffering from a
lingering cold but Ryan and Tim pulled through finishing with times of 38:34.0
and 34:33.0 respectively.
The women started a few minutes behind the
men. Emily, Alison, Martha, and Lucy lined up amongst the UofT and Queens
skiers. Emily and Alison went off with a strong start as the field spread out,
sitting in fourth and sixth through most of the first lap. Emily stopped during
the first 5km choosing to take it easy after racing the previous week at US
nationals and racing next weekend at World Junior Trials. Alison skied the full
10km looking much better than earlier in the fall season. She skied slightly
faster the second lap finishing in a final time of 39:52. Before the start of
the time trial, both Martha and Lucy with the support of coach Colin Rhodes
decided to only race 5km. Martha chose the shorter distance because of a
persistent but recovering injury and Lucy chose that distance because she was
very new to skiing. Martha finished in a time of 21:40.0,
while Lucy finished in 28:58.0.
After the time trial and some technique
work on the groomed trails at Highlands, the UW Nordic ski team pack up the
cars and drove back to the green grass waiting in Waterloo.
Men’s 10km Skate
|
Place
|
Name
|
School
|
Time
|
|
1
|
Patrick
|
U of Toronto
|
29:27.0
|
|
2
|
Aaron
|
U of Toronto
|
29:32.0
|
|
3
|
Ian Weir
|
U of Toronto
|
30:13.0
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7
|
Tim H.
|
Waterloo
|
34:33.0
|
|
12
|
Ryan M.
|
Waterloo
|
38:34.0
|
Women’s 10km Skate
|
Place
|
Name
|
School
|
Time
|
|
1
|
Julie McVicar
|
Queens
|
36:14.0
|
|
2
|
Jessica Metuzals
|
Queens
|
36:33.0
|
|
3
|
Katie Prufer
|
Queens
|
36:54.0
|
|
5
|
Alison Stephenson
|
Waterloo
|
39:52.0
|
Article written by: Alison Stephenson
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