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