“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”