Canada’s world junior and world cup teams may be set, but 500 top Canadian skiers will race this week in Lake Louise and Canmore as part of the Canadian Western Championships from Jan. 15-18.
The races will serve as a test event for the Tour de Canada scheduled for 2016, which will see top international ski racers compete in Quebec City, Gatineau, Montreal, Canmore and Lake Louise.
The distance races begin Thursday in Lake Louise, while the skate sprints will take off on Saturday at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Sunday will see the Nordic Centre host the mass start distance event.
Several top skiers such as Olympians Perianne Jones, Heidi Widmer and ParaNordic gold medallist Brian McKeever are expected to race. Full results will be available on the zone4.ca website.
Canada has yet to officially announce its world juniors team, but Katherine Stewart-Jones solidified her spot on the team with a win in the skate sprint at the eastern championships. She finished 15th in last year’s skate sprint at world juniors, and will try to improve on that result this year.
Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier also punched his ticket with a win in the junior men’s division.
The Canmore Nordic Ski Club sent 10 athletes to the eastern event, and program director Alain Parent said the athletes did well in tough conditions.
“The conditions were quite different than what we’re used to. I’m really happy with how they did. We had strong performances from Russell Kennedy and Annika Hicks, and Peter Hicks did well, but unfortunately didn’t qualify for the world junior team,” Parent said. “There were four spots available and the Quebecers were really strong. We have to up our game to keep up. Quebec is by far the strongest right now.”
Hicks and Kennedy both started skiing with Canmore Nordic before switching to the Alberta World Cup Academy. Hicks missed last season due to injury and Kennedy decided to return to Canmore Nordic. Parent said both have been great role models for the younger athletes since their return, and have changed their strengths.
Hicks, traditionally a strong distance skate specialist, has improved her classic technique, while Kennedy, who was groomed to be a sprinter, is improving his distance results.
“They’re super role models for the next generation,” Parent said.
After the eastern championships in Duntroon, Ont., Alysson Marshall joined Len Valjas, Jesse Cockney and Patrick Stewart-Jones for two days of racing: the classic sprints on Saturday and skate sprints on Sunday. Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov and Alex Harvey are taking the weekend off after competing in the Tour de Ski.
