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.
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