As Olympic reveries flitted through the 15-year-old mind’s eye of Molly-Jane Strum, the cross-country skier went on the hunt for an added boost to her training.
Sprinting was her favourite discipline and she knew if she worked hard enough, she could win a medal at the Canadian Ski Nationals in Cornerbrook, Ffld.
Fortunately, she knew exactly who to ask for advice: Olympic gold medallist Chandra Crawford.
“Chandra is amazing to train with. She helped me with my sprinting by teaching me to be aggressive off of the start,” Strum said. “I did a lot of training with Team Ninja: Alana Thomas, Amanda Ammar, Zoe Roy and Chandra. They mentored me and it was cool to train with girls I really look up to. They’ve all competed at such a high level.”
So when Strum crossed the line first in the juvenile girls skate sprint at Ski Nationals, some of the credit went to her mentors.
“It’s absolutely amazing. It’s something I wanted to do my entire life. The skate sprint is my favourite race so I’m so happy to have this race at nationals,” Strum said.
A talented skier who’s grown up under the tutelage of the Canmore Nordic Ski Club, her parents put her on plastic skis at the Canmore Nordic Centre as soon as she could stand. She’s been a strong youth racer, but struggled with injuries and illness over the past two seasons. She injured her ankle playing volleyball last year, and discovered this season she had another similarity to her hero Crawford – low iron issues.
“I was anemic and it caught me off guard. I’ve been struggling to build back my ski abilities and fitness, but I guess I pulled it together,” Strum said.
In Cornerbrook, Strum was quite nervous on the start day. She qualified in second place, 2.5 seconds behind Alison Pouw of the Nakkertok Ski Club, and knew she’d be hard pressed to make up that much time when they squared off head to head in the A final.
“In the final against her I was a little nervous because I knew she would be on her game. It was the first A final I had made at nationals. Off the start, (Pouw) was leading, but I wanted to stay with her. On the downhill, I passed her and I didn’t look back,” Strum said.
Canmore Nordic head coach Alain Parent was thrilled with Strum’s performance given she’s had such a tough time this year.
“She had low iron all season and wasn’t training much. We had a little peaking program and it worked out unbelievably for her,” Parent said.
Strum is a strong distance racer as well, but sprinting is where she has the most fun. Lining up against five other athletes and giving it her all on a kilometre-long course keeps her motivated, as it’s something she’d love to do for Team Canada one day at the Olympics.
“I just love it. I love the feeling of pushing as hard as I can, going fast and putting everything on the line,” Strum said.
Strum led the way for Canmore Nordic’s Ski Nationals, as the small team of 16 athletes finished fourth overall in team standings.
“Knowing this year we can’t challenge for the overall title because we sent half the athletes, we went for consistency,” Parent said. “Our big goal was to improve our classic and sprint results, and in the sprint we were the top club.”
Nearly all of Canmore Nordic’s athletes progressed through the sprints, as the club was a force on the short Cornerbrook course.
Reed Godfrey proved to be the club’s best skier at Ski Nationals, winning the juvenile boys overall gold medal. His top result was a second-place finish in the 7.5-km individual race, where he just missed the top of the podium by a second and a half.
“I’m really happy I got some medals and the overall title,” Godfrey said. “At the beginning of the season it was my goal to win the overall title. It was a longshot, but I dedicated my entire year to it.”
As part of Canmore Nordic’s phenomenal juvenile boys team along, with his twin brother Ty, Thomas Manktelow and Riley Millar, Godfrey said the winding trails in Newfoundland suited him, but noted it was harder without his brother on course.
“Normally we work as a team, but because the trails were thinner, everybody wanted to be in the top five. It was harder to work as a team as there were lots of other good skiers. I usually know where my brother is on the course at all times, so it was weird to ski without him,” Godfrey said.
He said one of the best parts of Ski Nationals is watching Olympic athletes battle it out; it’s where he wants to be one day.
“It’s cool watching some of the best in country and look at the Canadian team. I want to be on the national team one day and go to the Olympics, so it’s inspiring to watch,” Godfrey said.
While not all of Canada’s world cup athletes attended Ski Nationals, several did their part to inspire the next generation. Ivan Babikov won the 50-km classic, followed by Kevin Sandau and Graham Nishikawa. Ammar won the women’s 30-km classic race, followed by Emily Nishikawa and Japan’s Chisa Obayashi.
Banff’s Dasha Gaiazova won the senior women’s freestyle sprint race, as Perianne Jones finished second and Alysson Marshall won the bronze. Graham Nishikawa won the men’s freestyle sprint title, while Knute Johnsgaard finished second and Patrick Stewart-Jones was third.
