Lakers tested at World Nordic Trials
A contingent from Nipissing’s Nordic Varsity Ski team spent the last half of their holiday break in Thunder Bay, competing in their first races of the season. A trio of Lakers put in personal best results against the strongest Nordic racers in the country at the Lappe Ski Center with qualifications for the upcoming World Championships, U23 and World Junior Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic, on the line.
On day one, Nipissing Nordic recruit Jess Demers handily won the middle distance classic race in the junior girls category.
Nipissing University and North Bay Nordic teammates Matt Chalmers, Kevin Durkee and Lynsey Bialkowski started their three-day race weekend with an exciting and gruelling pursuit race in which the men raced 10km in classic equipment and transitioned to skate equipment to complete another 10km, while the women raced 15km overall. Durkee and Chalmers duked it out for 59th and 60th, with 0.4 seconds separating the two, while Bialkowski fought to find her racing form with a 36th place finish in the Open Women’s category.
Up next were the sprint races where athletes raced a 1.2 to 1.4 km loop in heats that took them through physically draining days of speed and endurance. Durkee posted the fastest time for the Lakers men, but came up short of a top-30 position needed to advance to the heats. On the junior side, Demers advanced through the quarter and semi finals through to the A-finals to get outstretched at the line by future teammate Madi Fraser, with the two girls blowing away the rest of the field and trading spots from the previous day’s middle distance races.
After some standout performances in the classic technique races, the third day of racing saw North Bay skiers struggling with a middle distance skate course that included nine major climbs for the men and six climbs for the women. Demers dropped back to sixth place in the junior girls category, two spots ahead of Madison Fraser. Bialkowski put her strongest technique to work for a respectable 35th place finish in the Open Women category, racing against National Team and National Development Center athletes, while Matt Chalmers brought home the team's best result on the men's side in 58th place, finishing the 15km course in 47.05.4, 7.5 seconds ahead of teammate Kevin Durkee.
Athletes will race again on January 19-20 in Sudbury at the second O’Cup of the season, before moving on to the Continental Cup races the following weekend in Collingwood, then on to the Eastern Canadian Championships in Quebec, February 1, 2, and 3 before heading back to Thunder Bay for the OUA Championships.