OUA Qualifier #1
This past weekend the Waterloo Nordic Ski Team travelled to the first official OUA qualifier race of the season. Due to the significant lack of snow this winter, the location was moved from Sudbury to Duntroon, Ontario. The race was a one day competition, with a classic race in the morning followed by a skate team sprint in the afternoon. Waking up Saturday morning, conditions were radically different from any previously seen this winter. With a snow squall warning in effect for the region, and 20 cm of snow on the ground from the night before, not counting the snowstorm of the previous day. Needless to say, the majority of the team was satisfied with amount of snow which fell, and felt that there was enough snow to ski.
Both men’s and women’s classic races began, took place, and finished in the pouring snow, making for slow conditions due to the large amounts of new fallen snow as well as the limited visibility. Despite the adverse conditions and lack of early season skiing for the team, they turned in some devastatingly good performances. Harry Seaton, an OUA All-Star last season, showed the rest of the field how is he on track for an even better performance than last year, as he finished the 10km course in first, winning in a time of 38:36. On the women’s side, Nellie Dow skied to a strong 5th place, finishing the 5 km course in a time of 22:43. Both racers faced fields which numbered in the 40’s. The large number of rookies on the UW team also had strong individual races, impressing all with what was the first race of the season for the majority.
Due to the copious amounts of new snow, the start for the sprint races was pushed back an hour so the course could be groomed. After the delay, the UW Nordic Team proved that their success in the morning was not simply a fluke, putting on a sprinting clinic in the 1 km, 6 lap race. The duo of Harry Seaton and Colin Rhodes skied to strong 2nd place, and the other five Waterloo teams had good races as well. On the whole the weekend was a success, and the team now turns to the fresh snow to get prepared for the upcoming OUA races in Ottawa.
Summary of individual results:
Women's 5k Classic
Nellie Dow, 5th
Toni Carlisle, 19th
Tiffany Duncan, 21st
Surabhi Venkatesh, 33rd
April Ross, 38th
Men's 10k Classic
Harry Seaton, 4th
Colin Rhodes, 9th
Stefan Ramonat, 19th
Neil de LaPlante, 23rd
Michael Logue, 38th
Derek Hartman, 39th
Ben Reid, 40th
