The Spielberg of Ski, Kevin Sandau’s filmmaking skills are exceeded only by his Nordic endurance. On Sunday (Dec. 13), he cast himself as Superman in the 15 kilometre skate race in Sovereign Lake, B.C.
“It was one of those races where I felt invincible,” Sandau said. “It was one of those races where everything came together. I’ve felt that a number of times in races. I felt unstoppable.”
Sandau finished 37 seconds ahead of the field for his third NorAm win, making him a good bet to grab one of Canada’s 14 spots on Ski Tour Canada. Knute Johnsgaard finished second and Canmore Nordic Ski Club’s Russell Kennedy was third.
Sandau skipped the sprint races, instead focusing on training. He put in eight hours of skiing on the days leading up to the race, and the results paid off. The 27-year-old said it’s a feeling he’s had on the best days of his career.
“I pushed crazy hard on the hills and my body was recovering. It felt explosive,” Sandau said. “I knew from the warmup it would be a good race. When it started, I went hot off the line and kept it going.”
Levi Nadlersmith of Manitoba won the junior boys race by an even wider margin, defeating the field by 1:15.7. Conor McGovern was second and Antoine Laforte was third. Canmore was well represented in the race, as Reed Godfrey took fourth, Thomas Manktelow sixth, Ty Godfrey eighth and Sam Hendry 10th.
Dahria Beatty also won her third NorAm of the season, dominating the 10 km individual skate race. Coming off a disappointing sprint race on Saturday, Beatty, 21, was dominant with a 32-second win. Jaqueline Mourao, who is 19 years older than Beatty, finished second. Rocky Mountain Racers veteran Andrea Dupont finished third. Local racers Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt finished fifth, Maya MacIsaac-Jones was ninth and Erin Yungblut was 10th.
Hollyburn’s Annika Richardson won the junior girls 5 km freestyle race by six seconds over Natalie Hynes of Whitehorse. Hanna Mehain was third. Anita Martin was the top Bow Valley racer. She finished 20th.
In Saturday’s sprint races, MacIsaac-Jones proved to be the class of the field, capturing the first NorAm win of her young career. The first year senior was tactical in the final, as she used a move she learned from Beatty in the quarterfinal.
“My strategy was to stay out of the mix early on and go into the final turn in second, and pass after that. Dahria had done that to me in my quarterfinal, and I saw how well it worked,” MacIsaac-Jones said.
MacIsaac-Jones’ Rocky Mountain Racers teammate Andrea Dupont was 2.4 seconds back in second place and Marie Corriveau was third.
The women’s division is currently wide open, as a different mix of skiers have emerged every weekend.
“There are so many fast girls right now, it makes it more exciting,” MacIsaac-Jones said. “It’s so much fun right now. Going into every race there are opportunities. Someone different could win every race. I hope we can work together and carry that speed over to the world cup.”
Sadie White won the junior women’s sprint final. Mia Serratore was second and Alberta World Cup Academy athlete Delphine Duvernay-Tardif was third.
Andy Shields of Thunder Bay won the men’s A final in a great battle over Sebastien Dandurand. Johnsgaard was third, for his second multiple medal weekend of the year.
Olivier Hamel was unstoppable in the junior men’s final, posting a four-second victory over the field. Ontario’s Julian Smith was second and Eric Byram of the Winsport team was third.
The skiers will take a break for the holidays, and chose their next steps. Cross Country Canada will fill its remaining B team tour spots, as many of these athletes will get to start a world cup race in January. Others could choose to travel to U23 games. Sandau has indicated he would like to race at the U.S. nationals in January.
