Notes
More training, more racing, more results.
That’s the mantra for the retooled Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) heading into the 2014 season, as their athletes are poised to reach the next level of success in the world of cross-country skiing.
Without a junior skier for the first time in years and after spending the summer sharing workouts with the Canadian national ski team, much has changed in the past six months at AWCA.
National team coach Justin Wadsworth is now in charge of overseeing training plans, working closely with Stefan Kuhn (men’s coach) and Chris Jeffries (women’s coach), while Mike Cavaliere now works behind the scenes. The new plans have seen an increase in training hours, fewer camps in exotic locales, and a plan to double the racing schedule.
On the snow, Olympians Perianne Jones, Heidi Widmer, Emily Nishikawa and Brittany Webster join Alysson Marshall and Dahria Beatty to form the women’s program. Jesse Cockney, Graeme Killick, Kevin Sandau, Michael Somppi and Patrick Stewart-Jones are joined by Jack Carlyle, Nick Monette, Sebastien Townsend and Yannick Lapierre on the men’s team.
From the group, both Kuhn and Jeffries expect their athletes to crack the top 30 on the world cup, and join the likes of Alex Harvey, Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov and Lenny Valjas.
“I’m pretty confident about our group in terms of fitness and form,” Jeffries said. “Given what the training entails, it’s been pretty consistent.”
He believes the women’s team is capable of performing at a high level, however, they need more chances to prove themselves.
“We don’t think we race enough as seniors, compared to our international peers. If you look at the data, maybe we race too much as juniors, who have the exact same schedule. We’re quite short on total races for the year as seniors.”
He signaled out Widmer and Nishikawa, who he feels can double their race starts this year, which would see Widmer go from seven to 14 skate sprints, while Nishikawa could get 20 race starts.
“As a sprinter, we can’t expect (Widmer) to get better doing seven races. We need to get her to that 15-race threshold. Emily, as a distance racer, will never get to the level of a Therese Johaug, who does 25 races a year when Emily only does 12 … all of our women have demonstrated the talent to have a top 30 result. We can’t make any excuses this year. We just have to go and do it,” Jeffries said.
Kuhn said the men are also facing pressure. Experienced skiers such as Kevin Sandau and Michael Somppi need to prove they can make the jump to the world cup and capitalize on the promise they’ve shown as strong junior racers.
“There are definitely a couple of guys that need to have the ultimate race that sets them apart. For Kevin and Somppi, it’s time to make that jump and it’s do or die,” Kuhn said. “I feel confident we’ll get something out of all of them and I’m confident we’ll see a top 30 from our guys.”
Sharing workouts with the world cup team has taught the academy boys quite a bit, Kuhn said, and young racers such as Monnette and Carlyle will benefit immensely.
Both coaches had to adjust to the new structure themselves this year at the AWCA. Wadsworth oversees training plan writing, but the day-to-day AWCA coaching is up to Jeffries and Kuhn.
“We definitely miss having Mike on the field day to day. He’s the most experienced coach in Canada, but in time Stef and I have learned a lot from him over the years. We have a lot of his flair in our program. It’s also nice having Justin come over.
“He brings experience from the world cup, and it’s good to see that co-operation and alignment with training with the world cup team,” Jeffries said. “Graeme and Jess have had lots of chances to train with the world cup guys, and having Peri with the academy girls is awesome. They get to be pushed by her and they push on her. It’s a good balance on daily training.”
Because of the increased importance of racing, the team cut its camp budget, utilizing snow closer to Canmore. The team began training at Sunshine Village in spring, and has used the Haig Glacier for two weeks, as they yo-yo between elevation and intensity camps.
“I’m excited for this winter. There’s a good group of athletes and we know the talent is there,” Kuhn said.
“We know our season will be evaluated on our ability to graduate athletes to the world cup. If we’re able to, it’s a good year for us. If not, we draw it up and keep going next year. There is no doubt we have the talent on this team. We just have to put it together when it counts in January and February,” Jeffries said.
