Story by Rachel Bates, UBC Nordic Skiing SC Marketing & Communications Officer.
What a whirlwind of a winter! We’re still catching our breath after the roller coaster that was our snowpack this season (our BC readers can sympathize). Despite the sparsity of on-snow training this year, we had some stellar provincial racing results. Read below for a recap!
BC Cup #2
Our first major race, BC Cup #2, took place close to home at Whistler Olympic Park. On Saturday, 15 athletes took on an interval start classic race on a gruelling 2 x 5km classic course. Highlights include a UBC sweep in CCUNC categories, with 9 of our athletes coming in the top 3! Isaac, Maggie, and Paige all placed first in their categories. This also marked the first provincial race in the UBC suit for our new athletes Foster, Parker, Ben, Errol, and Ava, who all killed it on-course.
Top Left: Michael on his home turf! Top Right: Paige is all smiles after taking the win.
On Sunday, athletes crushed a mass start skate 2 x 3.75km in some tricky conditions. Despite some minutes spent in the pain cave, Paige, Maggie, and Isaac defended the previous day’s titles successfully. Matthew, Erika, Parker, and Anna followed closely behind in 2nd place in their respective categories.
Our stellar results would not have been possible without the wax support of our fearless coach Mykal and team founder Carrie! No one has repeatedly burned their thumbs and inhaled toxic chemicals with bigger smiles.
Erika finishing strong!
Top: Anna, Paige, and Kiki on the U23 Podium!
Bottom Right: Erika and Maggie on the Open Women podium!
Bottom Left: Matthew, Isaac, and Ben on the U23 Men’s podium!
Click here for more detailed results!
BC Championships
Our biggest race of the year, BC Championships, took place in beautiful Larch Hills in Salmon Arm. Home turf to a few of our athletes, we were more than excited to stay at houses that included family dogs (Thanks Al and Deb!). After the guaranteed team-bonding, 7-hour drive on the Coquihalla, we prepped for 3 days of speedy racing.
On Friday, athletes took on an 800m classic sprint. This course is short but gruelling; it’s mostly flat until “The Beast”, a U-turn corner leading into a steep uphill finish. In an exciting battle, four of our women moved on to the finals, with Anna taking the win in U23 Women followed closely by Paige and Chloe in 2nd and 3rd. Rachel and Erika also placed 2nd and 3rd in Open Women. The men battled some tough competition, with Matthew placing 5th followed by Josh and James in 6th and 8th.
Top Left: Team at the finish!
Top Right: Matthew in the semi-finals.
Bottom: Paige chasing Anna in the sprint finals.
On Saturday, athletes left it all on the course on a 7.5km interval skate with some steep climbs and technical downhills. Highlights include a stellar performance by Ava and Paige who placed 1st in U20 and U23 Women, respectively. The men finished back-to-back, with Matthew, Josh, and James placing 5th, 6th, and 7th. Click here for more detailed results!
Left: Chloe conquering “The Beast”
Right: Anna, Paige, and Ava on the U23 Podium!
On Sunday, athletes put our best foot forward for the end-of-year fun relay. Sparkles, of course, are mandatory.
Sparkles, space buns, and sunnies make relays faster.
More importantly, the team came away from this weekend rockin’ some provincial hardware. For the second year in a row, UBC swept in U20, U23, and Open categories in provincial aggregate standings! A huge thanks to race organizers for their support of university skiing. What a wonderful way to see our season’s hard work pay off!
Top Left: U23 Men’s Aggregate: Josh, Matthew, and James.
Top Right: University Men’s Aggregate: Josh, Matthew, and James.
Bottom Left: U23 Women’s Aggregate: Tilda, Anna, and Chloe.
Bottom Right: University Women’s Aggregate: Anna, Paige, and Erika.
We couldn’t be more excited about the results of this season, and are looking forward to some warmer training runs as we come to the end of winter. Thanks for reading! Check out the links to our socials below to stay updated on team results, news, and training.