Ivan Babikov will do anything for a distance race.
Fresh off a torturous 50 kilometre world cup final race in Norway, the Russian bulldog promptly hopped on a plane for Thunder Bay, Ont., and was on the Ski Nationals start line for the 15 km classic race less than 48 hours later on March 17.
To top it off, he promptly won the race in 38:31.2, which was 25 seconds faster than Canmore’s Graeme Killick, and 37.1 seconds faster than Quebec’s Frederic Touchette.
Babikov built up a seven-second lead over Killick over the first 7.5 km, and kicked it into high gear in the second half of the race, extending his lead by another 18 seconds.
Including his dominance over Canadian and U.S. national championships, the win is the 20th national title of Babikov’s career, dating back to 2004.
The medal performance was also a bright spot for Touchette, Alex Harvey’s training partner, who has struggled with injuries for the past two seasons.
Joey Foster was the top junior male, finishing 15th overall, followed by Alexis Dumas and Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier.
The women’s 10 km race was an even bigger battle, this time between Emily Nishikawa and Perianne Jones. Nishikawa, who also competed in Norway on Sunday in the 30 km race, barely held on in the final lap, edging Jones by 2.3 seconds. Jones, a sprint specialist, had an incredible final lap, but just missed the distance title. Quebec’s Cendrine Browne was third.
Jennifer Jackson of Thunder Bay was the top junior woman, finishing an impressive fourth. Maya MacIsaac-Jones was the next fastest junior in eighth, followed by Annah Hanthorn.
On Wednesday (March 18), Canmore’s Jesse Cockney won his second national sprint championship in dominant fashion, defeating Julien Locke by three seconds in the final. Hakon Hjelstuen of Michigan Tech University was third, while Raphael Couturier was the third fastest Canadian.
Jones won the women’s national sprint title by four seconds over Alysson Marshall. Andrea Dupont finished third.
Dahria Beatty won her first national senior title on March 15 in a tight battle against Jones. Beatty edged Jones by 3.7 Seconds in the 5 km skate race. Dupont was third.
MacIsaac-Jones won the junior women’s title, edging out Katherine Stewart-Jones and Jackson.
Michael Somppi, racing on his home course in Thunder Bay, also won his first national title, claiming the 10 km skate race in 23:09. Andy Shields finished second, and Kevin Sandau was third.
Phillippe Boucher was the top junior male, followed by Dumas and Sam Greer.
Several local young athletes have also had strong results thus far. Sam Hendry won the Juvenile boys 5 km free skate race to open Ski Nationals, and was third in the 7.5 km classic race.
Other top finishers include: Anita Martin – 10th in the juvenile girls 5 km race; Lauren Turcot – 8th, junior girls 10 km classic, 12th in the junior girls 5 km skate and Ty Godfrey – second, 7.5 km classic and fourth, 10 km junior boys.
Ski nationals conclude on Saturday (March 21) with the classic long distance races.
