Americans rocked the icy track, but an Austrian woman stopped a sweep at the second annual Frozen Thunder Classic, Thursday (Oct. 26) at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
Austrian Katerina Smutna and American Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess were crowned king and queen of the October race, crushing the tough field, while Patrick Stewart-Jones and Alysson Marshall were the top Canadians.
Blackhorse-von Jess beat last year’s champ Andy Newell by five seconds in the A final for the win. Simeon Hamilton was third and Sam Naney finished fourth.
Choosing to race on kick wax while most of his competitors double poled on skate skis, Blackhorse-von Jess had enough strength left in his legs to carry him to victory.
“Kick wax (was the difference). These guys are amazing skiers. I was able to pull away when the hill pitched up and the glide didn’t make enough of a difference for them to come back,” Blackhorse-von Jess said.
The sprinter has limited world cup experience, but beating high-ranking teammates such as Newell was a big vote of confidence. Blackhorse-von Jess wants to crack the top-30 on the world cup this year and earn a trip to the Olympics.
“My fitness is really good. My speed isn’t really there yet. I think there is more to come. I’m much fitter than I’ve been in the past,” he said. “Whatever it takes, the Olympics are the goal. I have to believe the work we’ve done will put me where I need to be.”
He and his American teammates were thrilled with Frozen Thunder again this year.
“You guys are great. This was great. The course was awesome, the race was fantastic,” Blackhorse-von Jess said.
Smutna won the women’s race handily, ahead of Ida Sargent and Sophie Caldwell. Liz Stephens won the B final.
Alysson Marshall carried the banner for the Canadians, finishing fourth in the A final. Marshall is typically a distance specialist, but tested her sprinting chops against stiff competition. Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt and Andrea Dupont finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Last year’s winner Chandra Crawford qualified for the B final, but pulled out before the start.
“I’m pretty happy with it overall. I wish I had more gas for the final, but I’m happy to move through to the final and stick with fast girls,” Marshall said. “I felt smooth climbing and found a few little things to work on, but all in all it was a good first race of the season.”
Marshall was the fastest Canadian in qualifiers, where she also finished fourth overall. Other top Canadian qualifiers included Dupont (sixth), Emily Nishikawa (eighth), Bouffard-Nesbitt (ninth) and Amanda Ammar (tenth).
The Alberta World Cup Academy dominated the B final. Patrick Stewart-Jones was the top Canadian, to finish fifth overall, followed closely by Phil Widmer and Michael Somppi.
“It was a good day. The only thing is my semifinal wasn’t that good. Thought I was OK with my skis, but I should have gotten a little more kick. But overall it’s a good day,” said Stewart-Jones.
“It’s good to make those mistakes now. My major goal was to make the final. I didn’t quite make that, but I still have to be happy.”
His goal is to perform well at the U23 world championships in late January.
Widmer was the fastest Canadian in qualifiers, even though he was 10 seconds behind Newell. Other top Canadian qualifiers included Simon Lapointe (sixth), Alexis Turgeon (seventh), Stewart-Jones (eighth) and Somppi (11th).
Many top Canadians withdrew or were out of the province for the race. Devon Kershaw is training in Europe and Alex Harvey and Dasha Gaiazova are training in Quebec. Lenny Valjas is still recovering from a knee injury, Perianne Jones pulled out due to illness and Ivan Babikov, a distance specialist, chose not to race.
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