OUA Nordic Championships 2014- The Work Has Been Done

UW Nordic OUA Team 2014 

  

"The work has been done".   For me, this is one of the most motivational and relaxing things that anyone has ever told me on a start line.  Race days can often be stressful and nerve racking, but in the world of endurance sports, race-day performance is ultimately a direct reflection of the hundreds of hours of tough dedication that have gone into the training year.  For me, when someone tells me "the work has been done" I can't help but reminisce of brutally hot summer workouts, rollerskiing in raging wind and rain on early Sunday mornings and into the evenings, seemingly endless hours in the gym doing sets of up pull-ups, squats, bench press, bounding workouts, road trips to Highlands to catch good snow on the weekends, and last but certainly not least,  every weeknight in the winter spent ripping it up in the dark at Bechtel park, in what this year seemed to be weeks of -30.  Of course these are the tough moments, and there are many wonderful moments of training as well.  When you're standing on the start line and all of that goes racing through your mind, there's no way that you can convince yourself that the work hasn't been done.  There's no way that you can convince yourself that you should be worried, or nervous when you realize that all of the tough stuff is over with, that all you have to do is get yourself to that start line with a smile on your face, some fast skis in hand and get out there and do exactly what it is you've been preparing to do all of this time.  

          On the flip side of things, there also comes the part where you have to trust that the combination of the above madness will fit together to form the training plan that will work for you at the right time.  You have to trust that when you start to taper that, again, all of the work has been done and that all you can possibly do is rest and recover, trust that the plan has worked and that your body will peak at the right time. 

Each and every UW nordic athlete worked extremely hard to do exactly just this; got the work done and brought it all to the line for the final university racing event of the year, the OUA 2014 Nordic Ski Championships, held in North Bay, Ont. from Feb. 20th-23rd.

A taste of the weather during the team sprints 

             The championship was a three day event, coined the "Tour de Nipissing" as each of the three races was held at one of three different venues.  Day 1, the 6.5 km. classic "prologue" race, was held at Nipissing University's own cross-country ski trails.  Day 2 was the team sprints which were to be held in downtown North Bay, and Day 3 was a distance freestyle event which was to be held at the North Bay nordic ski club.  At the end of the "tour" points were totaled for an overall individual OUA ranking and overall team rankings.

Colin Elliott pushes through a corner in the classic race 

  Friday awoke to some of the warmest weather we had seen all winter.  The morning hovered around zero degrees and rain, with the afternoon dropping to -2 with snow.  No doubt some of the toughest waxing and skiing conditions that you could ask for.  The men's prologue kicked off the weekend, the Warriors sending out Oliver Conway-White, Colin Elliott and Orion Austrup.  Conway-White, ranking the highest of the UW team on that day, pulled in in 15th place in 22:05.6.  A strong performance from Elliott brought him to 18th place in 22:28.  Austrup followed in 43rd with a time of 25:26.

Alison Stephenson pushes over a hill 

          The women only brought two athletes to the line for the Championships.  Alison Stephenson, having a season's best performance, ranked 17th in 26:36 and Katie Madden was 29th in 28:18 in the 6.5km. classic race.

Oliver Conway-White leads a pack during the team sprint 

         

 The second day of racing was the team sprint event, where two partners alternate laps for 6 laps total of a sprint course.  The course this year being only 900m. was especially a sprint, as opposed to the usual sprint distance of 1.5km.  Semifinals were in the morning, where each team raced in one of two heats with the top five teams in each heat moving onto the finals.  The women's pair of Katie Madden and Alison Stephenson was first off the line for the day, however they were unfortunately not able to advance onto the finals.  They were 13th overall for the day.  The men's pair was Oliver-Conway White and Colin Elliott.  The men's team was also unable to advance to the finals, which also gave them a final ranking of 13th for the day.

Katie Madden gains time over a Nipissing skier in the 10km.

          Sunday's freestyle distance race was done in a pursuit style in which athletes stared based on their ranking from Friday's prologue. This meant that by improving your placement in the field of skiers improved your overall final raking.  Again the women were first off the line, skiing two 5km. laps for a total of 10km.  Katie Madden was able to improver her overall ranking by 8 places, coming in 18th in the freestyle event with a time of 34:07.  Alison Stephenson posted a result of 20th in a time of 34:27 in the freestyle race which gave her a final ranking of 19th.

Orion Austrup during the 10km. freestyle event 

          On the men's side Oliver Conway-White posted the highest place of the weekend for the Warriors in the 15km freestyle event.  He was 12th in a time of 42:15, which gave him an overall, impressive ranking of 12th.  Colin Elliott followed in 22nd place in 43:55 which led to 21st place overall.  Orion Austrup completed his first OUA Championships with a final ranking of 40th by placing 41st in the freestyle race in a time of 51:22.

          Congratulations to all members of the UW nordic ski team for some very strong results at the OUA Championships and for a successful 2013/2014 season! A big thank you to coach Colin Rhodes and Tim Hughes for the wax support over the season. 

Photo Credit to Gord Kerr and Lindsay Sarazin.  Thanks for the awesome photos! (and for standing out in the cold all that time!)

And we get the Warriors bus for the first time ever

) 

Eastern Canadian Championships 2014

          After just one week of recovery the UW Nordic ski team made way to Ottawa for the most attended ski race in North America The Canadian Eastern Ski Championships were held at Nakkertok ski club in Cantley, Quebec from January 31st to Feb.2nd., 2014. The event also being a part of the North American (NorAm) circuit brings some of the country's top skiers -- essentially anyone not racing in Europe at the Junior and U23 Championships or preparing for the upcoming Sochi Olympics was in attendance.  The race is also attended by the majority of athletes racing in the OUA making for an exciting and competitive race weekend for all levels of racing.

Orion during the 20km. classic race 

          From the Waterloo men's team was Oliver Conway-White, Colin Elliott, Orion Austrup and Ryan Fahey racing a 15km freestyle event on Saturday and a 20km classic race on Sunday. The Waterloo women's team was represented by Katie Madden, Alison Stephenson and Johanna Mercedes Van Shie-Copol for the 10km freestyle event on Saturday and 15km classic race in Sunday.  Coach Colin served as both the only coach and wax tech. for the weekend with the welcome exception of some grip and testing assistance on Sunday morning from local alumni Nolan Beanlands. 

          Saturday's race was a rather later start time, with the women not starting until 1o'clock and the men's race not starting until 2.  The women's team along with coach Coling made the most of the morning and did some pre-race shopping and strolling through Ottawa, with the most crucial and absolutely necessary stop being  at Kettleman's to pick up dozens of infamous Ottawa bagels.

Katie skiing in an OUA pack 

          The Warriors showed that they were in good standing in such a competitive field. Katie Madden led the women with a solid 35th in the 10k freestyle event in a time of 34:24. Katie was the highest placing Warrior for the day.  Following was Alison Stephenson in 42  and 35:34 and Johanna Mercedes Van Shie-Copol in 59 and 37:50.   Leading the Warriors on the men's side was Oliver Conway-White in 68 place in 43:42.    Colin Elliott was next in 88th and 46:43, Ryan Fahey was 118th in 52:41 and Orion Austrup was 126th in 54:16. 

Oliver gaining speed down a hill

           Sundays race was a much earlier start with the open men being the first ones out at 9:05 am and the open women following shortly after starting at 10:20am.  Overnight 15cm. of snow was received which made for challenging conditions for both the goomers and wax. techs.  It was not a piece of cake for athletes either as the tracks were very soft in most parts, with deep ruts of snow accumulating at the bottom of downhills and downhill corners.  Nonetheless, the Warriors stepped to the line with some equally impressive results to match.  The first Warrior to cross the line was Oliver Conway-White in 1:09:49, earning him a spot of 52nd place. Following were teammates Colin Elliott in 83rd in 1:19:27, and Orion Austrup in 109th in 1:30:59.  Alison Stephenson led the women to the line on the ladies side placing 38th in a time of 1:06:58.  Alison was the highest placing Warrior of the day.  Katie Madden and Johanna Mercedes Van Shie-Copol followed in 44th in 1:09:22, and 54th in 1:14:37, respectively.

Colin E. looking up the hill as he climbs 

         This is the last major race that the UW nordic ski team will be in attendance at before the OUA Championships from February 21st-23rd, held in North Bay, Ont. The snow conditions are excellent here in Waterloo so there will be much training done here at Bechtel park in the meantime, including the second in the Orion race series happening on Thursday, February 13th.

All photo credit to Gord Kerr, thanks for the great pics! 

OUA Invitational Day #2/ Muskoka Loppet

All bundled up for the cold

    Waking up to  - 30 degrees with what felt like -40 on Sunday morning did not stop the Warriors Nordic ski team from race preparations for a long distance classic race at the Muskoka loppet.  The frigid temperatures caused the start for the women's and men's 10 and 15km. classic race to be postponed from their original 10am start to an 11:30 start in an attempt to keep within the race cut-off temperature.  The race was a go but it meant that athletes had to prepare for what would be among one of the coldest races in their ski racing careers.  While racing attire usually consists of a race suit and maybe one base layer, hat/headband and lighter mits or gloves, people were racing in upwards of 3 layers on the bottom, 3-4 on the top and the warmest mits and toque available. For facial coverage at least one buff under the hat was absolutely necessary, though most athletes were wearing two buffs and covered any remaining exposed skin with dermatone and athletic tape to prevent the frost from getting into the skin.  Needless to say athletes were well suited up and hit the start line with a little frost beneath their feet.

     

Johanna looking strong off the start

The Warriors team was a little on the small side this a weekend what with some athletes being away on co-op and for various other reasons. Representing the women's team were captains Alison Stephenson and Katie Madden, and Johanna Mercedes Van-Shie Copol. On the men's side was second year Colin (C-man) Elliott and Orion Austrup.  Rookies Johanna and Orion were representing the Warriors for the first time as it was the first OUA event of the season. 

Orion on his way to the finish

     First in for the Warriors was Alison Stephenson in 10th place with a time of 39:01,  and just behind in the tracks was Katie Madden in 11th with a time of 39:12. Johanna Mercedes van Shie-Copol followed in 20th with a time of 44:07.  Colin Elliott led the Warriors men's team in 9th place in 49:27.  Orion Austrup, racing on home turf pulled in in 23rd place in with a time of 56:06.  The Warriors were able to defeat the epically cold weather to produce some solid race results.  Although not all of the OUA teams were present, the invitational was a good preview as to the teams shape for the upcoming OUA Championships to be held in North Bay, ON. on Feb. 20-23rd.

     The team is back in Waterloo for the school week but will be right back packing up to go to the Canadian Eastern Championships in Ottawa, ON. this coming weekend of Jan.31- 

Feb 2.

(Photo credit: Gord Kerr) 

On Target at Arrowhead - OUA Invitational Team Sprints

In a break from the winter deep freeze, the University of Waterloo Nordic Ski team raced Saturday at Arrowhead Provincial Park in Huntsville, Ontario for the OUA Invitational Team Sprints. The temperature was balmy at -9°C with light snow in the morning and sun in the afternoon. Seven of the nine Ontario universities with Nordic ski teams (Lakehead and Algoma missing) competed making the competition very strong. In particular, the women's field included two top Canadian University athletes fresh from FISU World University Games.

For anyone unfamiliar with the team sprint race format, it consists of heats of two man teams competing  with athletes alternating laps for a total of three laps each. In this case the laps were 1km long. Teams compete in semifinals where the top teams from each heat advance to the finals to declare a winner.

The University of Waterloo sent one men's and one women's team with an additional woman racing on a mixed university team with another athlete from Nipissing. The women's team consisting of Alison Stephenson and Katie Madden qualified comfortably in third place to advance to the finals. Johanna Van Schie-Copol, competing on a mixed team, successfully competed in her very first team sprint but did not advance. The men's team consisting of Colin Elliott and Orion Austrup also failed to qualify for the finals with a seventh place finish in the semifinals and finished thirteenth overall.

The women's teams were the only University of Waterloo athletes competing in the finals. Stephenson got off to a slow start in eighth place going into the first climb but gained ground on the other teams and lapped through in fourth. Madden followed with another strong lap battling with the Queens University team. The Waterloo women fought hard but fell seconds short of fourth place in a sprint to the finish.

Colin Elliott pushing hard

Katie Madden leaving the transition

First climb of the women's final

Women's Results
1. Carleton (23:20.5)
2. Nipissing (23:54.9)
3. Guelph (24:08.2)
5. Waterloo (24:55.3)

Men's Results
1. Carleton (20:56.4)
2. Guelph (21:12.1)
3. Nipissing (21:27.2)
13. Waterloo (23:28.5)

Full results can be found at http://zone4.ca/results.asp?id=6379

Wasaga Loppet - Let's go for a Long Ski

After five years at UW you eventually get used to the weather in Southern Ontario. Sometimes the icy winds chill you to the bone, other times it's shorts and t-shirt weather in January. This year the new school term was welcomed with fresh snow and cold weather. The first practice of the term had a minus 40ºC windchill. The cold quickly turned to rain by the end of the first week of class and the snow was melting fast. Most winter sport enthusiasts like the UW ski team might fear rain but we persevered and made an early morning drive Sunday, January 12 to Wasaga Beach Provincial Park for their annual ski loppet (last UW Nordic attendance was in 2010). 

I have only skied at Wasaga once before but you forget that the trails are actually very nice. There are some nice climbs along the high dunes, winding trails with the occasional sharp corner, and the potential to see wildlife on the trails (didn’t see any but there were deer tracks on the trails!). This year temperatures around zero and overcast skies welcomed the Wasaga loppet. The course was fast with icy granular snow but everyone came prepared with several klister options to pick to optimal grip wax. The men raced 2 laps of 10km for one of their longest races of the season at 20km and the women raced one 10km lap.

The men started followed 4 minutes later by the women. With a gap between categories, it limited the number of athletes fighting for the track on the narrow trails. Nonetheless, the lead group of women passed many of the slower men. Sunday, UW sent three athletes while the rest of the team recovered from illness and races earlier in January.

Alison Stephenson led the UW women with a fourth place finish. She stayed in the lead pack for the first several kilometers but struggled to keep pace through the climbs when she struggled to get good grip. On the men’s side, coach Colin Rhodes led the men through the first lap in fifth place, seconds off fourth. Unfortunately, Colin injured himself pushing hard in a chase group the end of the first lap and dropped out of the race when he came through to lap.

Men's start - Can you find the UW skiers?

Alison rounding the last corner to the finish

Senior Men (20km)

Place	Name	Team	Lap 1	Lap 2	Finish	Difference
1	Daniel Kerr	Guelph	0:31:23	0:31:56	1:03:19
2	Kai Bruce	Guelph	0:32:08	0:33:02	1:05:10	+ 01:51
3	Michael Solomon	Guelph	0:32:40	0:34:20	1:07:00	+ 03:41
4	Devin Martin		0:33:07	0:35:03	1:08:10	+ 04:51
5	Shaun Guerin	Guelph	0:33:51	0:35:19	1:09:10	+ 05:51
6	Matt Underwood	Guelph	0:33:41	0:35:43	1:09:24	+ 06:05
7	Luke Parsons	Guelph	0:34:02	0:35:57	1:09:59	+ 06:40
8	James Morton	Guelph	0:36:20	0:37:37	1:13:57	+ 10:38
9	Orion Austrup	Waterloo	0:35:38	0:38:23	1:14:01	+ 10:42
10	Zachary McLaren	Guelph	0:44:50	0:47:00	1:31:50	+ 28:31
DNF	Colin Rhodes	Waterloo – Alumni	0:33:10	***	***
DNF	Kyle Smith	Guelph	0:37:01	***	***

Senior Women (10km)

Place	Name	Team	Finish	Difference
1	Elise Huet	Guelph	0:35:43
2	Ashley Huet	Guelph	0:36:02	+00:19
3	Catherine Mallinger	Guelph	0:36:16	+ 00:33
4	Alison Stephenson	Waterloo	0:37:33	+ 01:50
5	Johanna Van Schie-Copol	Waterloo	0:42:09	+ 06:26
6	Ronena Wolach	Guelph	0:44:54	+ 09:11

After a few early season races, the UW ski team is looking forward to more races at the end of January.