Lakers Nordic gearing up for OUA championships

The Nipissing Lakers Nordic varsity squad raced this past weekend at an OUA Invitational hosted by Waterloo and the Arrowhead Nordic Ski Club. The skiers went to the line in team sprints, with teams of two skiers trading off three laps each of the 1.2 kilometre course.The Lakers advanced two women’s teams and one men’s team from the semis into the finals.
The women’s A-team of Kajsa Heyes and Shelby Dickey started out in first place in the finals, with see-saw action through the laps trading spots with strong teams from Carleton and Guelph.
Lakers women Jess Demers and Lynsey Bialkowski fought their way up through the chase pack, coming in 7th overall. In the end, the Carleton team of Kendra Murray and Liza Rozina got to the finish line first, with Nipissing pulling ahead of Guelph for the silver medal.
“The race was an awesome start to the varsity season, with both epic team bonding and racing,” said Dickey, anchor women’s A-team in the sprint relay.
The men’s team of Matt Chalmers and Kevin Durkee battled for podium position with Laurentian, Waterloo and Guelph, bouncing between 2nd and 4th place through the laps. As the laps wore on, the steep climb out of the stadium pushed back against the skiers, with Carleton moving decisively to the front and with gaps opening up in the chase pack. Towards the line, Guelph pulled away for second, with the Nipissing boys holding on for the bronze.
"We both did a good job of sticking to our game plan, unfortunately I ran out of gas on the last lap and wasn't able to catch Guelph, but I’m still happy about the result. It was a good test for us with OUA champs up coming in less than a month," said Durkee, anchor, men’s team in the sprint relay
Lakers head coach Toivo Koivukoski said overall the races went well, and although the goal is always first place and gold medal, the Lakers proved they are right in the mix and should challenge for more medals in the future.
“I was pleased with the determination showed by the athletes, and the strong supports developing within the team. The podium results bode well for the OUA Championships, with the team looking fit as we head into the Eastern Canadian Championships this coming weekend,” he said.U-23, World Junior and Olympic Trials
Two Nipissing Lakers Nordic athletes stepped up to the start line at the Olympic, U-23 and World Junior Trials in Canmore, Alberta., aiming to qualify to represent Canada in international competition.
Kajsa Heyes brought back the team’s best result in the individual sprint, advancing to the B-finals and posting an 11th place finish, short the result needed to punch her ticket to the U-23 World Championships in Val Di Fiemme.
“After battling some illness the past few months, I was happy to even get to the starting line for Olympic / U-23 trials. This year I was hoping to make the Under-23 World Championships team for Canada, and I was disappointed to not race at my full potential, but I'm 21 now, so I have another year and another shot in 2015,” she said.
"All the courses we raced in Canmore were brutally tough. The classic course went up the entire 'wall' three times for the women and four times for the men, making it a definite ‘runner's course.’ The skate sprint course had a lot of climbing, which is also very tough on the quads if you have to race it four times to get to the A or B finals,” she added. “They were good courses to show me what parts of the body, technique, or mental training I need to put time and focus into strengthening for the second half of the season.”
Shelby Dickey looked strong going into the World Junior Trials, but her results didn’t match her training and potential this time out, falling off the pace through the four trial races.
“Coming into these races I was super stoked because I felt ready. My plan and training going into this weekend prepped me for a solid peak and I was confident in my abilities,” Dickey explained. “However, things don't always go according to plan. There were just several factors that piled up last minute and apparently they were too large to recover from.”
Dickey expressed resolve and determination to dust herself off from the races and get ready for the next set of domestic races.
“I think that is the beauty of this sport; even on the coldest, harshest days when you feel like you can't get back up, we always do. Because we love it and we know there is always a better race out there and, I have one of the best support crews out there,” she said.
“There is no such thing as failure, only temporary non-success. Learn from your mistakes and on the plus side there is only one way left to go – up.”
If we can keep our athletes healthy and help our injured, like Thomsen D’Hont who had to sit out these trials, Nipissing Nordic will be a powerhouse team.
Overall it was a proud step up for the team to put forward Nipissing varsity athletes aiming to qualify to represent Canada, with our athletes being inspired by big dreams and sustained by the potential to realize them.