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From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.

Tag: Alana Thomas

  • The Ninjas Fight On: ‘The Team is Retired … We Hope That The Idea Will Live On’

    The Ninjas Fight On: ‘The Team is Retired … We Hope That The Idea Will Live On’

    Team Ninja: l-r Crawford, Ammar, Thomas, Roy; photo courtesy of Team Ninja. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-NINJA/181009732101939
    Team Ninja last season in Canmore, Alberta (from l-r) Chandra Crawford, Amanda Ammar, Alana Thomas, and Zoe Roy (Courtesy/Facebook photo)

    With Chandra Crawford, Alana Thomas, Zoë Roy, and team founder Amanda Ammar all bowing out of competitive cross-country skiing this year, Team Ninja only existed for a season, but what a season it was.

    FasterSkier recently checked in with each of the Ninjas, including Thomas, Ammar and Roy, to talk about the independent team and discuss what each of them intend to do as they turn the page to a post-ski racing chapter of life.

    Training with Team Ninja

    “Once you get to a certain age, I don’t think you should be on a generic program. We all had our own focuses and goals and we didn’t hold hands the whole time but we came together for key workouts where we’d push each other hard.” — Amanda Ammar, two-time Olympian, former Canadian National Team member and Team Ninja founder

    Thomas (left) and Roy, Ninja training Like A Boss; Photo Courtesy of Team Ninja
    Thomas (left) and Roy, training “Like A Boss” (Courtesy photo)

    One of the features that set Team Ninja apart from other ski teams is that there wasn’t a single coach responsible for guiding all four athletes’ training regimens. Ammar was coached by Chris Butler, Crawford by Peter Larsson, Roy developed her own training program with help from several coaches, and Thomas worked with Jack Sasseville. This approach allowed each member to focus on their own strengths and weaknesses and helped them to work their training around work and injuries. Both Thomas and Ammar were plagued with lower-back issues, common among nordic skiers.

    Ammar tried upping her running hours to take strain off her upper body, only to develop a foot injury from too much running. With advice from U.S. Ski Team member Sadie Bjornsen, Ammar switched her training to swimming for a week and a half and soon after, she posted a personal best in a time trial up the Mt. Norquay access road in Banff, beating her previous best by two minutes.

    Thomas’s back pain stemmed from disc issues and affected her for a large portion of the year.

    “From July on through to January, training was really tough because of my back,” she said.

    For Thomas, it was Team Ninja’s support and positive attitude that motivated her to stick with it.

    While the Ninjas trained hard, it was their desire to have fun first and foremost that defined their training season. They had filled up Sriracha Hot Sauce bottles with a sport drink for “Ninja Juice” feeds on long runs, worn “Like A Boss” T-shirts for every workout at their training camp in Invermere, B.C., and had a blast while mountain biking on trails in Bend, Ore.

    An Olympic Year

    “I had a really solid race season, but it wasn’t quite good enough for the Olympics. I think it was a pretty good ratio having half our team going to the Olympics though! I was really happy to help along my teammates and be part of building their success.” — Zoe Roy

    Ammar leads Brittany Webster in the 15 k skiathlon at Olympic Trials (Photo: Angus Cockney)
    Ammar leads Brittany Webster in the 15 k skiathlon at Olympic Trials (Photo: Angus Cockney)

    When the dust settled after Canadian Olympic trials, two of the seven women on the Olympic team were Ninjas: Crawford and Ammar.

    For Ammar, qualifying for the Olympics was the big goal and, according to her, her team was instrumental in getting her to Sochi.

    “I needed those girls this past year,” she said. “They brought a whole new element of fun and working with them challenged me to push out of my comfort zone. That extra diversity of not having to train by myself really helped me raise the bar. Without them there was no way — plus we had so much fun.”

    Ammar described her Sochi experience as more or less an uphill battle. She and Brittany Webster, of Team Mito Canada, were added to the Olympic team after the official team naming, and as a result, prepared separate from the rest of the team.

    “It was really rough going to the Olympics, having to fight so hard to get there and then have my skis broken in transit,” Ammar said. “I felt like it wasn’t a really fair shot against the world.”

    Aside from the Olympics, Team Ninja made every stop of the NorAm circuit except Westerns. At the first NorAm of the season, they “Christmas-tree bombed” trees at the SilverStar venue. Roy posted two podiums, including a win, at Canadian Eastern Championships in February, and Ammar finished her season with the first national title of her career in the 30 k classic event at Canadian Nationals in March.

    The Future of Team Ninja

    After Nationals, Ammar, 28, was debating continuing her career.

    “At the end of the season it was almost hard for me to retire, I’m in the best shape of my life right now,” she said. “Mentally and physically I’ve never felt stronger than this season.”

    But having spent over 13 years racing competitively (her first nationals was Thunder Bay in 2000), and after having injury continually crop up, she decided it was time to move on.

    Reflecting on her final season, she was content with meeting her two big goals of qualifying for Sochi and winning a nationals distance race. Ammar plans to begin studying Chinese medicine at a Calgary acupuncture school this fall and has already been offered a position, upon the completion of her studies, at the Canmore Alberta clinic where she currently works as an administrative assistant.

    In terms of milestones, 2014 was it for Ammar. The weekend after her return from Sochi, her boyfriend of five years as well as her coach, Chris Butler took her backcountry skiing and proposed to her on top of a mountain.

    “All the Ninjas were betting that it [the proposal] would be at Christmas but when it didn’t happen I thought it’d be next fall,” she said. “I was surprised when he proposed right after the Olympics!”

    She said yes.

    Roy, 26, was happy to finish her career with a solid race season, ranking sixth overall on the NorAm circuit without racing at Nationals. Having raced on the U.S. collegiate circuit with the University of Utah, to the Scandinavian Cup, Roy says it’s time to try something new.

    “I’m moving on to different things,” she said.

    She’s currently the assistant manager at the Paintbox Lodge, owned by 2006 Olympic silver medalist Sara Renner and her husband Thomas Grandi, an alpine Olympian, in Canmore. Roy works with former Alberta World Cup Academy skier Kate Brennan.

    That’s her “summer plan,” she said, explaining she’d like to go into business with her brother.

    “My brother has started a backpack company so I’m thinking of going back to Bend to help him with that in the future,” she said. “This is still in the works but that’d be my plan in the fall.”

    After coping with injury for the last year, Thomas, 26, finally stepped back from skiing in January.

    “On any other team I would have quit earlier, but I wanted to be with the Ninjas and support their races, that was really what kept me around,” she said. “The other Ninjas were really successful and I’m very happy to have been part of it. … I had hoped that I could finish it off strong, but injury ended things a couple months earlier than expected.”

    With a degree in economics under her belt, Thomas will be working this summer at the CIBC bank in Canmore and shredding mountain bike trails in her free time. She plans to return to Ottawa, where she completed her undergrad, to start work on her master’s in the fall.

    The Ninja Spirit

    One thing that each of the Ninjas are adamant about is that, while Team Ninja may have raced its last Canadian Nationals, the team itself is not a thing of the past.

    “The team is retired, but anyone can think of themselves as a Ninja,” Thomas said. “We hope that the idea of team Ninja will live on.”

    The Ninja spirit created by the four athletes has inspired many younger skiers and has the potential of growing into something even bigger than the team that conceived it.

    “I’ve had a couple coaches approach me to keep it going,” Ammar said. “I didn’t realize we had connected with so many younger athletes, but I’d like to share this with younger generations of girls and boys. I’m just trying to figure out how to do this right now.”

    The Ninjas are entertaining the idea of starting an outreach camp for young skiers but for now, with limited time on their hands, they plan to start off small, stepping in to help coach the occasional practice with the Canmore Nordic junior team.

    Team Ninja Ninja Suit Kitty; photo courtesy of Alana Thomas: http://alanaskis.blogspot.ca/
    Team Ninja Ninja Suit Kitty (Photo: Alana Thomas/alanaskis.blogspot.ca)

  • The Great NINJA Buff Fundraiser

    Team Ninja: Zoe Roy, Alana Thomas, Chandra Crawford, and Amanda Ammar
    Team Ninja: Zoe Roy, Alana Thomas, Chandra Crawford, and Amanda Ammar

    CANMORE, Alberta — Team Ninja is very proud to announce it has a new member: Buff Canada has come on as a huge sponsor for us and provided us with custom TEAM NINJA Buffs! We are very grateful for Peter Collins and Buff Canada’s incredible generosity.

    Custom Edition TEAM NINJA - NOT available in stores!
    Custom Edition TEAM NINJA – NOT available in stores!

    The Ninjas will be sporting our new Buffs while training and racing towards our Olympic dreams and you can do the same by getting your very own TEAM NINJA Buff.

    If you want to show your support for Team NINJA while looking like a total BOSS, I’ll send you your very own custom edition TEAM NINJA BUFF. Simply send Alana Thomas your mailing address and donate $30 through her website (see donation button on right). Your Buff will arrive within one week.

    All proceeds go directly to funding the training and racing escapades of Team Ninja.

    Looking forward to having you as another new member of TEAM NINJA!

    Alana Thomas sporting her Team Ninja Buff
    Alana Thomas sporting her Team Ninja Buff
  • Meet the Ninjas: Four Independent Skiers Unite

    Meet the Ninjas: Four Independent Skiers Unite

    Canmore's crew of renegades: Team Ninja. From left to right: Zoe Roy, Alana Thomas, Amanda Ammar, Chandra Crawford (Photo: Amanda Ammar)
    Canmore’s renegade crew: Team Ninja (from left to right) Zoe Roy, Alana Thomas, Amanda Ammar, and Chandra Crawford (Photo: Amanda Ammar)

    It all started as a running joke. Amanda Ammar wasn’t actually a ninja, people just thought she was.

    Two seasons ago, the 2006 Olympian and former Canadian National Ski Team member decided to return to competitive nordic skiing after a year-and-a-half hiatus. She did so cautiously, balancing training with a secretarial job at the Rocky Mountain Rehab and Sports Medicine Clinic in Canmore, Alberta.

    “I want to get to a certain level again, but I can’t force it,” she said at the time. “I just have to do what I love doing.”

    That meant working out at odd hours with her boyfriend and coach, Chris Butler.

    “My first year back I was working every day,” Ammar said on the phone last week of her 2011/2012 season. “Me and Chris, we’re like, ‘Yeah, we’re just gonna do ninja training and keep it fun.’ ”

    That winter, she grabbed four NorAm podiums. Friends were supportive, but they didn’t quite understand. When did she train? They never saw her.

    “I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m a ninja,’ ” the 27-year-old said.

    That season, Ammar’s friend Anna Schappert made her a headband with a lightning bolt. She asked for another one – with a ninja – and raced in it last season, ultimately capturing the overall NorAm title.

    The appeal of Ammar’s independent and unorthodox method quickly caught on in Canmore. Friends Alana Thomas and Zoe Roy, formerly of training centres and clubs, joined her at Western Canadian Championships in Grande Prairie, Alberta. There, Ammar and Thomas each won a race and placed second in another, and Roy finished fourth twice at the three-day mini tour.

    Ninjas Amanda Ammar (l), Alana Thomas (c) and Zoe Roy having some fun with training. (Photo: Amanda Ammar)
    Ninjas Amanda Ammar (l), Alana Thomas (c) and Zoe Roy having some fun with training. (Photo: Amanda Ammar)

    Not bad for a band of ninjas.

    The three made the bond more concrete this spring, naming themselves “Team Ninja” and vowing to work hard while always having fun. It wasn’t long before they added a fourth member: Chandra Crawford, who decided to train independently of the Canadian World Cup Team in April.

    According to Ammar, Crawford asked her if she could join. The 29-year-old Olympic gold medalist had her own training plan and coach, Peter Larsson, but wanted some training partners.

    “I said, ‘Yes, but we have some big ground rules,’ ” Ammar said. “We have no bullsh*t on this team. We’re gonna have a ton of fun, be competitive, get together and have really good workouts.”

    Among the rules, as listed on Thomas’s blog: “You must swear to always have fun,” and “only be competitive at the appropriate times.”

    Rules of Team Ninja:
    You must:1. Swear to always have fun2. Promise to only be competitive at the appropriate times3. Be ready to throw down at all workouts3. Keep grumpiness to a minimum

    4. Never laugh at a teammate for wearing makeup during workouts

    5. Always wear your team bling proudly

    “You don’t need to win lunch,” said Thomas, who left the Alberta World Cup Academy early last winter in her first season with the national training centre.

    Like Roy, who raced for the University of Utah before pursuing a professional career with Rocky Mountain Racers last season, Thomas said the team structure wasn’t the right fit. With her own coach, Team Hardwood’s Jack Sasseville, writing her training plan out of Toronto, Thomas said the Ninjas’ work-hard-play-harder approach makes the arrangement work.

    “We’re all on the same page,” she said. “We’re all focused on skiing for at least one more year and skiing at a high level but we also need more flexibility. We each have our own coach so our training plans aren’t identical; we’re not going out holding hands every day.”

    Earlier this week, Thomas rollerskied with two other Canmore-based women, Brittany Webster and Rebecca Reid. There are times when her workout doesn’t jive with her teammates’ or anyone else’s, and she said that’s OK.

    “It’s kind of nice to go by yourself a few days a week,” Thomas said.

    So what makes the four independent skiers a team?

    “We genuinely want each other to succeed,” Thomas explained.

    Hula-hooping Ninjas Amanda Ammar (l) and Zoe Roy. (Photo: Amanda Ammar)
    Hula-hooping Ninjas Amanda Ammar (l) and Zoe Roy. (Photo: Amanda Ammar)

    If one of them makes the Olympics next year, Ammar, Thomas and Roy all said they’d be ecstatic for that person.

    “I don’t think you could really ask for better Canadian girls to train with,” said Roy, who’s in the process of finding a coach. In the meantime, she’s enjoying training with close friends.

    On Saturday, all four will compete in the 5 Peaks Trail Run at the Canmore Nordic Centre. They recently trained together at their first training camp in Bend, Ore., staying at Roy’s mom’s house to cut down on expenses. They’ve planned camps in Osoyoos, British Columbia, and potentially St. George, Utah, where they also have places to stay.

    “Being independent doesn’t mean it’s going to be more expensive by any means,” Ammar said. “A lot of ways you’re going to spend less money. … Non-carded athletes have team fees and a lot of those fees don’t cover travel, so they’re paying rent and team fees on top of it. We’re doing camps in places we have hookups.”

    “You just make it work,” she added. “Chandra’s so used to being on the national team. I said to her, ‘Dude, this is the great thing bout not being on a team. We don’t need to have camps all the time!’ Canmore is awesome. We have a sick setup.”

    And she’s thrilled her approach is affecting others.

    “For so long, I was on a structured program,” Ammar said. She moved to Canmore for her last year of high school, spent three years on the junior national team and three more on the senior squad.

    “It’s hard to work and do all that other stuff,” she added. “I think I just got too focused on one thing, and once I stepped back and I wasn’t skiing at all, I realized that if you have the right boss and setup like we have, you can have a life. I just had to see it for myself.

    “For me, just to go to work, it’s just something else other than skiing and it makes me appreciate skiing even more,” she added. “Mentally I think that all of us need that.”

    In addition to working at the clinic, Ammar has her own cleaning business. Thomas is the retail and event manager for Crawford’s company, Fast and Female, and works at the OutSide Bike & Ski shop. Roy splits her time between working at a coffee shop and the Paintbox Lodge, where she babysits for Sara Renner and Thomas Grandi in exchange for rent.

    As busy as they are, they’re still training full time.

    “We’re not just out here messing around,” Ammar said. “We have fun every day, but we’re working hard. We want to keep it how sport should be; sport should be fun.”

    According to Roy, the community’s already noticed.

    “It’s kind of funny how much it has grown,” she said. “We’ll hear people talking about it, like, ‘There are the Ninjas!’ We’ve got some really nice emails that, ‘You girls are inspiring to our kids on this junior team.’ … Those things make me happy.”

  • Widmer, McKeever Earn First Individual Titles at Canadian Nationals

    Widmer, McKeever Earn First Individual Titles at Canadian Nationals

    Heidi Widmer (AWCA) on a mission to capture her first individual national title at 2013 Canadian Nationals on Sunday in Whister, B.C. There, she was the top Canadian and third overall in the 5 k freestyle individual start.
    Heidi Widmer (AWCA) on a mission to capture her first individual national title at 2013 Canadian Nationals on Sunday in Whister, B.C. There, she was the top Canadian and third overall in the 5 k freestyle individual start.

    WHISTLER, B.C. – Heidi Widmer of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) didn’t win Sunday’s 5-kilometre freestyle individual start at Canadian Nationals outright, but she took home her first individual national championship at the age of 22.

    American Caitlin Gregg of Central Cross Country (CXC) made the trip to Canada and took the overall win in 12:02.9 on a fast-and-warm day at Whistler Olympic Park.  She was happy with her race and is feeling that this event will be good preparation for the U.S. SuperTour Finals in April.

    Caitlin Gregg (CXC) en route to the overall win in Sunday's 5 k freestyle individual start at Canadian Nationals in Whistler, B.C.
    Caitlin Gregg (CXC) en route to the overall win in Sunday’s 5 k freestyle individual start at Canadian Nationals in Whistler, B.C.

    University of Colorado-Boulder senior Eliska Hajkova took second place, 10.9 seconds behind Gregg. Along with some Colorado teammates, she decided to celebrate spring break in Canada this year. A Sochi hopeful, she wanted to test herself against an international field before returning home.

    Hajkova was excited by her race, particularly enjoying the fast snow and low elevation (900 metres compared to Boulder’s elevation of 1,650 m).

    “The [course] has hard uphills and tricky downhills, but it is so fun to race,” she said. “The trails here, oh my God, this is really a heaven for skiing.”

    The fastest Canadian, Widmer was third overall, 22.4 seconds behind Gregg.

    “It was definitely a lung burner, but I am very happy and ecstatic,” she a day after winning the team sprint with Marlis Kromm. “It is my first Canadian championship, so I am really happy with that.”

    “It was a really fast course today and good conditions, but different than we expected,” she added. “I wanted to finish stronger than I started. Five k is about pushing right from the beginning and trying to hold off that blow up as long as possible.”

    Nakkertok’s Alana Thomas was second Canadian and fourth overall (+32.7) and Alysson Marshall (AWCA) brought some upside to a rough season, collecting the bronze less than two seconds behind Thomas.

    “It was a pretty decent distance race for me,” Marshall said. “I am happy with how it turned out.”

    Asked what her season highlight was, she responded “Later this week!” A sprint specialist, she is looking forward to the classic sprints on Thursday and the classic interval start on Tuesday to provide that highlight.

    Julia Ransom (Biathlon Alberta) was the top Junior Woman in eighth (+48.9). She was not the top biathlete on the day, edged out by Canadian national-team biathlete Rosanna Crawford, also from Canmore.

    Fresh off Sochi, McKeever notches first Canadian title

    Brian McKeever (Canadian Para-Nordic Ski Team) after notching his first national title at Canadian Nationals on Sunday in Whistler, B.C. There, he won the 10 k freestyle individual start just days after flying back from IPC World Cup Finals in Sochi, Russia.
    Brian McKeever (Canadian Para-Nordic Ski Team) after notching his first national title at Canadian Nationals on Sunday in Whistler, B.C. There, he won the 10 k freestyle individual start just days after flying back from IPC World Cup Finals in Sochi, Russia.

    In the men’s 10 k freestyle individual start, Canadian Para-Nordic Ski Team member Brian McKeever collected his first national title in 21:18.1.

    A perennial winner in International Paralympic Committee (IPC) events with 10 Paralympic medals and an unbeaten streak on the World Cup this season, the 33-year-old visually-impaired skier started fast on Sunday. He posted one of the fastest splits up the opening climb and kept up the tempo.

    Graeme Killick (AWCA) started faster, but faded on the second lap to concede the silver medal to teammate Graham Nishikawa, who was 14 seconds behind on the first climb.

    “You never really know how you are going to feel after getting off the plane from Russia,” McKeever said after flying from IPC World Cup Finals in Sochi just 48 hours prior.

    “First national championship win in my career,” he said. “I am really happy about that.”

    About 10 seconds behind with three kilometers remaining, Nishikawa finished strong, 11.6 seconds behind McKeever.

    The 5 k ‘blue’ loop, best known as the second loop of the 2010 Olympic 50 k course, has a testing final kilometre, with the steep climb from ‘Way Out’ followed by a rolling section into the Hermodt’s hill before the drop into the stadium.  Many racers bled time on the apparently easy Hermodt’s on the second lap, Killick included. With 3 k remaining, Killick was close to McKeever.

    “I lost a lot of it probably coming to the stadium here,” Killick said.

    Coming off two golds at IPC World Cup Finals and two at IPC World Championships this season, Brian McKeever returned to Canada to claim his first national title on Sunday in the 10 k freestyle individual start in Whistler, B.C.
    Coming off two golds at IPC World Cup Finals and two at IPC World Championships this season, Brian McKeever returned to Canada to claim his first national title on Sunday in the 10 k freestyle individual start in Whistler, B.C.

    Hearing how McKeever one-skated the final climb, Killick laughed and said that wasn’t an option for him.  Killick held on for bronze, 23.0 seconds out of first.

    “It was super-fast conditions,” Nishikawa said. “Just go from the gun and a lot of pain. I usually start slow and hopefully pick it up. I am happy with my effort, it hurt a lot so that’s a good thing.”

    Nishikawa’s also coming off some intense racing at World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy, but said he’s recovering.

    “[Today] feels better than yesterday, so I am looking forward to Tuesday a lot,” he said.

    Killick was also upbeat, saying “it was good for a skate race.”  In a 10 k individual start, “you have to keep your speed up all the time, and I think I was almost there, but not quite.”

    Like the others, Killick enjoyed the conditions, describing them as “nice and fast, good speed. It held up better than when we were testing yesterday.”

    While the men’s podium was all-Canadian, the U.S. took fourth and sixth with Sylvan Ellefson (Ski & Snowboard Club Vail/Team HomeGrown) and Bryan Gregg (CXC), respectively.

    Marc-André Bédard (Biathlon Canada) led a good showing of biathletes, placing fifth overall and fourth Canadian (+30.4) to match his result at Canadian Nationals last year, where he was fourth in Quebec.

    Results: women | men

    2013 Canadian Nationals 10 k freestyle men's podium, with winner Brian McKeever (third from r), Graham Nishikawa in second (second from l), Graeme Killick in third (second from r), Sylvan Ellefson in fourth (second from l), Marc-Andre Bedard in fifth (r) and Brian Gregg in sixth (l).
    2013 Canadian Nationals 10 k freestyle men’s podium, with winner Brian McKeever (third from r), Graham Nishikawa in second (second from l), Graeme Killick in third (second from r), Sylvan Ellefson in fourth (second from l), Marc-Andre Bedard in fifth (r) and Brian Gregg in sixth (l).
    2013 Canadian Nationals 5 k freestyle women's podium
    The top-three Canadian women in Sunday’s 5 k freestyle individual start at Canadian Nationals in Whister, B.C., with Heidi Widmer (c) in first, Alana Thomas (l) in second and Alysson Marshall in third.

     

  • Notes and Quotes: Thomas and Killick Take Western Canadians in Grande Prairie

    Notes and Quotes: Thomas and Killick Take Western Canadians in Grande Prairie

    Graeme Killick (AWCA/CNT) racing earlier this season at the West Yellowstone SuperTours.
    Graeme Killick (AWCA/CNT) racing earlier this season at the West Yellowstone SuperTours.

    The Canadian Noram series wrapped up with the Western Canadians mini-tour in Grande Prairie, Alberta. Graeme Killick (AWCA) and Alana Thomas (Nakkertok) crossed the finish line first on Sunday to take the overall victory.

    Competition was intense despite the reduced field, with most of the racers from eastern Canada avoiding the travel and four of the usual suspects busy in Val di Fiemme.

    In Friday’s classic sprint, Heidi Widmer (AWCA) crossed ahead of Alysson Marshall (AWCA) and Kate Brennan (AWCA). Widmer was thrilled with the win; Marshall on the other hand was a bit frustrated crossing the line in second.

    Thomas (Nakkertok) leading Zoe Roy (RMR) and Emily Nishikawa (AWCA) in the 15 k skathlon at the Lappe Nordic NorAm on Jan. 3 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (Courtesy photo)
    Thomas (Nakkertok) leading Zoe Roy (RMR) and Emily Nishikawa (AWCA) in the 15 k skathlon at the Lappe Nordic NorAm on Jan. 3 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (Courtesy photo)

    “Friday went okay for me, I didn’t feel great in my qualifier but started feeling better as the heats went on,” she told FasterSkier. “I didn’t ski the final as tactically well as I wanted to but I was satisfied with the final result.”

    Jess Cockney (AWCA) outsprinted Brent McMurty (Foothills) and fastest qualifier Andy Shields (Thunder Bay NDC) in the men’s final. Michael Somppi (AWCA) narrowly missed out on the podium to shields after what he called “a mixup in the finishing lanes.”

    Saturday was classic distance interval starts in tricky waxing conditions.  Amanda Ammar (AWCA) finished in 31:56.0 to beat Thomas by 49 seconds, with Annika Hicks (AWCA) a further ten seconds back in the 10km event.

    “I was out on a mission,” Ammar told FasterSkier. “These trails were tailored perfect for me. Lots of striding, many exchanges, and technical downhills. I went out hard and made a gap early. It was a fantastic race, and I was pumped to have two classic podiums in a row.”

    Thomas, though, was happy with her race too.

    “I felt pretty good but had AMAZING skis thanks to help from the Foothills coaches, conditions were a little tricky so this played a big part,” she reported.

    Killick led the men’s 15km race in 40:27.1, with Kevin Sandau (AWCA) 41 seconds behind and Cockney at 1:01.

    Sunday’s 15km skate pursuit began with Ammar starting 12 seconds ahead of Thomas and 15 seconds ahead of Hicks.  Widmer skied the fastest in 43:24.46 to move from sixth to third and the final podium spot for the weekend.  Thomas quickly caught Ammar and won the sprint for the mini-tour title, with Thomas also taking the second fastest time for the day ahead of Ammar in third.

    The men closed out the weekend with a 30km skate pursuit.  Killick began the day with a 37 second lead and finished with 45 seconds, earning the second fastest time for the day with 1:14:06.6.  Cockney started in second and was caught by fourth starter Michael Somppi (AWCA).  Cockney edged Somppi at the line to take second overall with third starter Sandau sliding back to fourth overall while taking 5th for the day.

    FasterSkier contacted the podium finishers, and got comments about their races as well as the weekend on the whole and the wrap-up of the Canadian NorAm season.

    Overall Thoughts

    Widmer: I am really happy with the way my body responded this weekend. I haven’t done that much consecutive racing yet this season and have missed it! It’s such a fun and demanding format and having two skate races worked well for me. It is great to be able to stand on a podium again as well as traveling with the whole team together feels great. It’s been awhile since we’ve travelled with this big of a team this season and feels great – especially when everyone is doing so well!

    Hicks: As a whole, the weekend was really good. Two out of three races were really good, so I’m happy about that. I’m disappointed Sunday didn’t go better, because it would have been nice to fight for a podium position in the overall standings, but sometimes the body won’t let that happen. I was happy to hang onto 5th.

    Ammar: These mini tours are great fun! Obviously I would of liked to have done better in the sprint, but I’m so pumped about how good my classic race went. I’ve been feeling quite strong in this race, and it’s nice to see that it’s becoming consistent. Overall, this was a great weekend!

    Shields: Westerns was a great set of races for me. I wasn’t planning on making the long trip of Grande Prairie, but I decided to go around two weeks ago when I found out the flights were so cheap. Thunder Bay didn’t sent any coaches to this event so I got race support from the Augustana Vikings and their coach Les Parsons.

    Somppi: Overall it was a good weekend of racing. It felt good to be on the podium for the mini-Tour this time instead of finishing one step off in fourth like I did at Eastern Canadian Championships.

    Sprints

    Widmer: Sprint day was my focus and I wanted to put everything on the line in the qualification to see what would come of it – I was pleased to have it pay off on a speedy course. There was a lot of time between heats because there were a lot of racers to get through with the Juniors as well, so I did my best to conserve energy and not let my mind get too far from ski racing. The final was really fun – I just hammered from the gate and hoped I wouldn’t see anyone in my peripheral. My goal for the weekend was to take the win in the sprint and it’s my first NorAm title of the season so a great early birthday present!

    Thomas: I was pumped to make my first A-final of the year on Friday, unfortunately I crashed myself out of contention but felt awesome so was stoked for the rest of the weekend.

    Hicks: I had one of the best sprints of my life. I made the A final for my first time as a senior so that was exciting. I felt a little out of place standing on the start line in the final. I just tried to stay with the leaders as long as possible, but ran out of steam at the end. I can’t complain about a 5th place in a sprint though!

    Ammar: I was very disappointed with the sprint. I unfortunately fell in the qualification, and ended up having a high bib number, and since they weren’t timing heats, I ended up in a stacked first heat and didn’t even making it into the semi’s.

    Shields: The Mini-tours started off with one of my best sprint qualifiers of my career and I was able to make it to the A-final without too much trouble. In the final I was able to squeak onto the podium with a lunge. It was my first Senior NorAm podium of my career.

    Interval

    Widmer: The classic day was tough. It was really abrasive and transformed snow with a glazed track which meant a lot of running for me. Although it wasn’t my strongest race and didn’t play to my strengths, I came away with a lot of lessons learned about my ski selection as well as my body in classic skiing.

    Hicks: The 10km classic the next day went really well too. The conditions were really challenging. It was really icy and abrasive. I think everyone struggled a little with grip, but the Academy especially. Our glide was great, though. I was slipping a lot right off the start and thought “Oh no, this is not going to go well” but I just tried make it work and kept pushing. I crashed pretty hard on one of the downhills, which was unfortunately right when Amanda passed me, so I didn’t get a chance to ski with her. I was a little surprised I finished 3rd because I didn’t feel smooth at all, but I knew I put in a good effort.

    Marshall: Saturday was pretty rough, I was tired and struggled for kick on some sections so the race felt like a slog. I have been dealing with some ongoing health issues with my thyroid and have been tired and having trouble recovering. I decided not to race on Sunday to give my body a chance to get back on track and not get too beat down from three days of racing on tired legs.

    Somppi: The classic distance wasn’t great. I started well, skiing a strong opening 5km lap, but couldn’t hold the pace and crashed towards the end of my second lap.

    Pursuit

    Thomas: Sunday was just a total blast. I started 12 seconds down on my good friend Amanda and worked to catch her asap in the first few kilometers. From there we skied together and let it come to a sprint finish. I’ve never won a NorAM before so it was really great to do it on such a fun day!

    Widmer: The 15k Skate race went really well for me. I’ve done a lot of work on skating, especially one skate, this past training season and I have come to rely on it in the distance races. I started 6th, 1:08 back from the lead and after finding out Alysson was a scratch I knew I wanted to get Zoe and Annika in my sights as soon as possible on the winding race trails so that I would be motivated to catch them. It’s like hunting season in the pursuit races! A really fun format. After about 7km I caught Annika and Zoe, Annika had a crash so Zoe and I skied the second half of the race together and she gave me an awesome push. I put my head to the ground in the last 1.5km and did everything in my power to knock off as many seconds as possible to secure a 3rd place overall on the weekend and my first ever distance NorAm win.

    Hicks: The 15km skate was the biggest disappointment of the weekend. Usually, it’s my favourite race because I’m generally a stronger skater, and I was in a really good position (only 27 seconds back of Amanda in first). Unfortunately, my legs had nothing left in them, and I knew it right off the start. I really struggled to keep my turnover high, my legs were so heavy. I crashed on the downhill again, which really didn’t help matters. The whole race was just a struggle.

    Ammar: I’m happy with the skate race, with me skate races can go two ways, good or really really bad. Luckily Alana and I worked together kept the pace consistent, got a big enough gap that no one was a threat to catch us, then we battled at the last 100meters to the finish. I didnt race a gutsy race like the classic, but tried for a more tactical. Alana got me by a boot, and even though I was so close to winning, I still have to be happy with this result.

    Somppi: I started the final pursuit race in 4th place, much further behind the leader than I would have liked to be.  I had a tall task of making up 1 minute and 4 seconds on tour leader Graeme Killick.  Fortunately it was a skate 30km, which is a good race for me, so I figured I had a chance.  Graeme ended up skiing a very good race and held off all the challengers to win the mini-Tour.  I did my best to pace the 30km well and finish fast.  The final 6km I emptied the tank completely and was able to catch Jesse a few hundred metres from the finish line.  Knowing Jesse’s sprinting abilities I executed the best strategy I could think of, blowing by him on the final short climb and trying to hang on to a small gap to the finish line.  Unfortunately I didn’t get enough of a gap and he was able to tail me into the finish lanes then ski up beside me and win in an photo finish.

    Full results are at zone4, with separate sprint qualifying and heats results, individual-start results, and then final-stage times and overall standings.

     

  • Thomas on Leaving the Academy, Shooting for World Championships

    Thomas on Leaving the Academy, Shooting for World Championships

    Alana Thomas (formerly of the Alberta World Cup Acadmy) leads Zoe Roy (RMR) and Emily Nishikawa (AWCA) during the Lappe Nordic NorAm 15 k skiathlon on Jan. 3 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Thomas was second to Nishikawa, and the two will race for a distance spot at the upcoming World Championships as the NorAm trials continue this weekend in Duntroon, Ontario. (Courtesy photo)
    Alana Thomas (formerly of the Alberta World Cup Acadmy) leads Zoe Roy (RMR) and Emily Nishikawa (AWCA) in the Lappe Nordic NorAm 15 k skiathlon on Jan. 3 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Thomas was second to Nishikawa, and the two will aim for a distance spot at the upcoming World Championships when the NorAm trials continue this weekend in Duntroon, Ontario. (Courtesy photo: alanaskis.blogspot.com)

    Just a year ago, Alana Thomas dreamed of making one of Canada’s prestigious national training centres.

    The Nakkertok skier and Toronto native had been working toward the goal since she started skiing competitively as a junior. Now 24, Thomas took the unconventional route and went to college, graduating in Carleton University in December 2010 with an economics degree. Ever since, she’s been building back up, training full time and largely seeing results.

    Her breakthrough season last year – including her first OPA Tour trip and European racing experience – earned Thomas a spot on the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) in Canmore for 2012/2013. Thomas accepted, jumped on a plane west and settled into her new pad, living with Canadian World Cup skier Chandra Crawford and two others. For the duration of the summer and fall, she trained with nearly a dozen AWCA women in Canmore. Once winter came, she was eager to see how her hard work would pay off.

    According to Thomas, it didn’t really.

    “You know how you sometimes feel like you’re working away at something and you’re just pushing and pushing, but you’re not really getting anywhere, maybe just treading water?” she said on the phone Wednesday from her parents’ home in Mississauga, Ontario, just outside of Toronto. “That was kind of tough. I was expecting better sensations through the training season.”

    In her World Cup debut at her new home in Canmore, Thomas placed around 60th in all three events Dec. 13-16. Dissatisfied with her results, she left the Academy shortly after.

    Alberta World Cup Academy women, including Alana Thomas (back left), Alysson Marshall (second from back left) and Emily Nishikawa (front, center) during a summer hike up Centennial Ridge near Canmore, Alberta. (Alana Thomas courtesy photo)
    Alana Thomas (top left) with her Alberta World Cup Academy teammates, including Alysson Marshall (second from top left) and Emily Nishikawa (front, center) during a summer hike up Centennial Ridge near Canmore, Alberta. (Courtesy photo)

    “I think [I was] looking for a bit more fitness and just by leaving the Academy, I got rid of a lot of stress,” Thomas said. “I think I was wasting a lot of energy on things that didn’t really deserve energy. I just feel more relaxed and happy now and working on good training and recovering and just having fun racing.”

    Put simply, the coaching style wasn’t the right fit for her, she said. After years of training mostly independently under Nakkertok’s club umbrella, Thomas said it felt good to get back to some of her old training habits. She’ll continue to live in Canmore for the rest of the season and remains affiliated with Nakkertok, but no longer belongs to a training centre.

    “It was a hard decision to make because I really wanted to be on the team to train with those 10 or 11 other girls who are so committed and so strong,” Thomas said. “It’s too bad that didn’t work out, but it wasn’t anything personal with the other athletes.”

    She’s kept valuable training partners like Zoe Roy of Rocky Mountain Racers, who joined her on a recent trip to Ottawa during a break between NorAms in Thunder Bay and Duntroon, Ontario.

    “It made more sense, I thought, than flying back to Canmore for two weeks and spending so much money on that,” Thomas said. “My friend who moved into my old room [in Ottawa] was going away for all of January so I just moved back into my old room and brought my friend Zoe Roy with me. We had tons of fun training in Ottawa.”

    After a week and a half there, Thomas headed to Mississauga, about a 1 ½-hour drive from Duntroon, the site of this weekend’s NorAms and Senior World Championships trials.

    Nearly three weeks ago at the first half of World Championship trials in Thunder Bay, Thomas placed second in the NorAm skiathlon.

    “I felt like I was closer to being back to where I feel like I should be able to ski consistently or can ski,” she said. “It was nice to know, ‘Oh good, I didn’t just waste the whole year training just to get slower.’ ”

    Now in fighting position for a distance spot at World Championships in late February in Val di Fiemme, Italy, Thomas has to repeat the feat or win Sunday’s 10 k skate race.

    “That was definitely on my list of goals for this year, and so far it seems like a long shot at best, but I’m feeling fit,” Thomas said. “I want to be on the podium this weekend, for sure, and if I get to go to world champs that would be amazing, but if it doesn’t pan out that way, then that’s OK, the season’s not lost.”

    As for what she knows about Highland Nordic’s NorAm courses in Duntroon, Thomas said there’s a new sprint course.

    “I haven’t skied it yet, but I’ve heard that they’ve added way more climbing to it so that should be exciting for a classic sprint,” she said. “On the skate day, it’s a good mix. There’s some steep hills, there’s some more gradual ones, lots of false flats in there, and a couple exciting downhills.”

    She’s looking forward to having her younger brother cheering her on from the sidelines for the first time in six or seven years.

    “He’s like, ‘Which day is gonna be less cold? Which one should I come and watch?’ ” Thomas said. “I was like, ‘Saturday’s the classic sprint.’ He’s like, ‘They do sprints in classic now? That’s so weird!’ ”

  • Nishikawa Siblings Sweep Skiathlon at NorAm World Trials

    Nishikawa Siblings Sweep Skiathlon at NorAm World Trials

    Graham Nishikawa, 29, leads some Alberta World Cup Academy teammates, including Jesse Cockney (207) and Kevin Sandau (202), in the skate leg of Thursday’s NorAm 30 k skiathlon in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Nishikawa won the race to earn a trip to 2013 World Championships (Photo: Martin Kaiser)

    For the second time this season, the Nishikawa siblings – Emily and her older brother Graham – pulled out NorAm victories on the same day at the NorAm World Junior/U23 Trials in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Emily won the women’s 15 k skiathlon by 9.1 seconds in 45:30.5.

    The first time the Nishikawas both topped the podium was at an interval start skate Dec. 9 at Sovereign Lake with a few top domestic racers away at a sprint World Cup in Quebec City. On Thursday, the skiathlon field was slightly stronger as those missing skiers were back to chase points toward a World Championships start opportunity in Val di Fiemme, Italy.  Combined with U23 Worlds and Junior Worlds start places going to the first finishers in those categories, this weekend has been highlighted on most domestic athletes’ calendars.

    The weather has not cooperated with very little snow falling in the last month.  Only a huge effort from Lappe Nordic and volunteers in the local ski community has allowed the race to proceed.  The course had to be shortened, which changed both the number of laps and the shape of the races. The senior women did three laps of 2.5 k classic and three laps of 2.6 k skate.  The junior women did two laps of each.

    Zoe Roy (5) leads Emily Nishikawa in the NorAm leader’s bib during the skate leg of the women’s NorAm 15 k skiathlon on Thursday in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Nishikawa won the race. (Photo: Martin Kaiser)

    While the skate loop remained challenging, the shortened 2.5 k classic loop took on a very different character. “The classic course had long downhill and double pole sections with just one climb near the end of the 2.5k loop,” women’s runner-up Alana Thomas (Nakkertok/XC Ottawa) wrote in an email. At least three of the favourites tried and failed to make a split on that small climb.

    The flatter classic loop resulted in an unusually large group of 13 women arriving at the transition together. Brittany Webster (Highlands Nordic), who was fourth, already struggling with the cold, got tangled “with another athlete who lost her ski box. Can’t blame her, I’ve done things like that before,” she wrote.

    Webster left the transition zone in seventh place, only 7 seconds behind the leading Thomas, but was not able to close the gap.  Thomas, one of those who had tried to split field in the classic loop, wasn’t waiting.

    “[I] tried to string it out again starting the skate portion and got a gap with Emily Nishikawa and Zoe [Roy],” Thomas said of the third-place finisher from Rocky Mountain Racers. “We skied together switching leads and eating up the big hills on the skate course. Emily gapped us a bit in the last k but it sure was an exciting day!”

    Race winner Emily Nishikawa of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) had a similar view of the racing. “I’m happy with today’s race, and I felt good,” she wrote. “The classic course was pretty easy with a lot of downhill and flat sections so the pack really stayed together, it was hard to break away in that part.  Then in the skate course, I was skiing with Zoe and Alana for the whole time until the last lap where I was able to get a bit of a gap and hold it until the finish.  I was confident I could win, and I’m really glad I was able to do that today.”

    Thomas was satisfied with her second place. “The race was really fun today and especially satisfying after a slow start to the season so far,” she wrote.

    Andrea Lee (NDC Thunder Bay) in seventh led the U23 athletes and qualified for the U23 Worlds. “I was really happy with the way I felt today,” she wrote. “After having a tough time in the races before Christmas, I finally felt like I had my energy back. I struggled a bit in the classic leg, but once I transitioned to skate, I felt much better.”

    Frédérique Vezina of the Pierre-Harvey Training Centre (CNEPH) dominated the Junior Women’s category to earn her JW berth and continue her strong run of results from December. Katherine Stewart-Jones (Nakkertok) and Cendrine Brown (CNEPH) came in together for second and third places after spending much of the race in a chase group with Dahria Beatty (Yukon Ski Team) and Maya MacIsaac-Jones (RMR). Anne-Marie Comeau (CNEPH), ranked second after her world cup successes, did not start.

    Some of the athletes struggled in the -13C conditions, like Webster, who explained she “felt good warming up today, but the cold really got to me out there, and even at the start of the race I could feel my body contracting slower and slower. By the end, of course , you don’t really notice it, but I didn’t ski or feel like I had much punch. Just cold limbs and frost bite on the toes!!”

    Other athletes didn’t mention the cold.  One thing almost every racer mentioned was the work of the volunteers. Thomas wrote, “I’ve got to mention how impressed I was with the course, T-Bay really loves skiing and volunteers spent hours and hours shoveling snow onto the race loops to make today possible – all worthwhile and much appreciated!”

    Men’s Race

    Graham Nishikawa (AWCA) continued what his sister started, winning the men’s 30 k skiathlon at Lappe Nordic by 3.7 seconds in 1:15:51.9.  As with the women’s race, all the top domestic racers were there to earn points towards a World Championships start, or U23 or Junior Worlds trips.

    The lack of snow in the last month forced the use of shortened courses, with even more laps for the men. Nishikawa wrote that “the course was 12 laps of 2.5km. The classic side was gentle and the skate side was challenging. The organizers did an amazing job getting the course together – there is very little snow here!”

    At the end of the 15 k classic, there was a pack of 23 skiers in the transition zone.  While it is typical for the men to ski in packs, this was larger than usual. Second-place finisher Kevin Sandau (AWCA) said the shortened classic course “was sort of good and bad – easier to ski easy and relaxed but at the same time there was too much congestion just cause it was harder to break into a smaller lead pack.”

    The ‘good’ for Sandau, who was “a bit nervous about the classic leg of the race as I haven’t been as strong in classic this season”, was ‘bad’ for some of the other racers who were stronger in classic. Skiathlons usually slightly favour the better skaters, this course was just a little more skewed that direction.

    Sandau was one of the skiers pushing the pace early in the skate leg. “I felt pretty good in the skate leg, and for the first couple laps tried to speed the pace up to thin it out a bit,” he wrote. “Near the 25km mark I knew it was going to come down to the final climb before the stadium for the win, as the four of us in the lead were skiing pretty strong.”

    Graeme Killick (AWCA), who was third, Michael Somppi (AWCA) in fourth, Brian McKeever (Para Nordic National Team) in fifth, and Jesse Cockney (AWCA) in sixth also spent time on the front pushing the pace.

    Racing on his home trails, Somppi slid back into “seventh or eighth place” after the exchange, he explained. “With the trails not being overly wide, it was difficult to pass and the yo-yo effect made it impossible to get into any sort of rhythm,” Somppi wrote. “I was able to move up to 4th as other skiers faded, unfortunately I didn’t have the energy left for a sprint to the finish line.”

    Nishikawa used his experience in the final. “I know the skate course well from previous years- and made my attack on the final climb,” he wrote. “Got a gap and maintained.”

    Sandau was happy with his second place: “On the very last climb, Nishikawa attacked and I couldn’t respond, but was able to just edge out Killick after getting in his draft before the finishing lanes.”

    Somppi’s lack of energy gave him the best view of the finish. “Graham Nishikawa played it well with a strong surge up the final big climb to secure the victory while Kevin and Graeme fought for silver,” he wrote. Personally, he was also fairly pleased. “[I] am happy to have finished with the leaders, however 4th place is always a tough place to finish.”

    Cockney, who was sixth just 2.5 seconds behind McKeever, felt good about his race and is “really looking forward to Saturdays sprint as today shows I have good shape for the weekend,” he wrote. “The last couple laps were just a bit too much for me but I’m happy with the improvement from past years results.”

    Andy Shields (NDC Thunder Bay) used his hometown advantage to finish seventh, good for first in U23 and a trip to U23 Worlds.

    “My goal was to win the U23 category today and that’s what I did so I’m very happy with how things played out,” Shields wrote. “Skis were superb, both ski selection and wax, so I didn’t have to work very hard in the classic leg – which went out slow anyway. I was able to stay with the lead pack for most of the classic but got into the exchange further back than I wanted to. I was able to catch back up to the lead pack in the first half of the skate and in the process ended up dropping all the U23’s.

    “It feels great to qualify for Worlds on the first day of trials. Now I can just concentrate on enjoying the rest of the races by skiing as fast as I can.”

    Raphael Couturier (CNEPH) won the Junior Men’s 20 k skiathlon ahead of Alexis Turgeon (CNEPH) and Ezekiel Williams (Nakkertok) to book his ticket to Junior Worlds.  Jack Carlyle (Soo Finnish), David Palmer (Black Jack) and Scott Hill (Team Hardwood) completed the group of six that skied the last 5 k together.

    Full results at zone4.ca

  • Jones, Thomas Run Away with Team Sprint at Canadian Nationals

    Jones, Thomas Run Away with Team Sprint at Canadian Nationals

    Canadian National Team member Perianne Jones (r) celebrates winning the classic team sprint at the 2012 Canadian Ski National Championships on Saturday as Nakkertok teammate Alana Thomas (l) awaits her arrival at the finish on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City.

    QUEBEC CITY – As Alana Thomas stood in the finish pen on the Plains of Abraham and looked back beyond the line, she smiled as Perianne Jones cruised down the final stretch.

    The Canadian National Team member was going to win by a mile – or maybe a kilometer, figuratively speaking in Canadian terms.

    While Jones didn’t quite have a full lap on the 11 other teams in the open classic relay at the Canadian National Ski Championships on Saturday, she finished in 17:59.6, more than 24 seconds ahead of anyone else with the help of Thomas, her Nakkertok teammate in the club event.

    Nakkertok teammates Alana Thomas (at left) and Perianne Jones (CNST) celebrate winning the team sprint at Canadian nationals on Saturday.

    “We drove here together this morning and we talked about kind of what we wanted to do,” said Jones, who flew into Quebec the night before from Canmore, Alberta. She previously spent a full season on the World Cup circuit in Europe.

    “We were going to build into it,” Jones added. “I think we executed pretty well.”

    They beat runners-up Amy Glen and Caitlin Patterson of the University of Vermont (+24.2), and Annika Hicks and Amanda Ammar of Canmore Nordic finished third overall (+31.4).

    Jones and Thomas also won their first heat, nearly two seconds ahead of Hicks and Ammar. Hicks passed Thomas on the final leg of the 3×1 k race, (in which each racer competed three loops in the city park, tagging off in between), but Jones reeled in Ammar as the anchor.

    While they worked hard in the qualifying round, the Nakkertok women made sure they had plenty left for the final. Jones said they planned to push hardest on the last lap while skiing relaxed throughout. Both did so and built a nearly 22-second gap by the end of the second leg.

    Thomas said she was trying to hang in the pack and ski smart. She also skied ahead, and most importantly, managed to stay on her feet. Heidi Widmer and Marlis Kromm of Foothills Nordic had been in second place for most of the final, but Widmer fell victim to the slushy conditions about halfway through her last lap. She tagged off to Kromm, who finished 1 second behind Ammar in fourth place.

    When Widmer slipped, Glen scooted around her and tagged off to Patterson in second. With Jones nearly 25 seconds ahead, Patterson held the position and clinched silver.

    “We’re definitely more distance skiers,” Patterson said. “We’ve been doing a lot of 5 k’s, 10, 15. So in general, we feel like we’re skiing pretty consistently. We just have the endurance to take us to the third lap still strong.”

    Open women's team sprint podium at 2012 Canadian nationals: 1. Nakkertok (Thomas, Jones); 2. University of Vermont (Patterson, Glen); 3. Canmore Nordic (Ammar, Hicks)

    Fresh off a trip to the NCAA championships in Bozeman, Mont., the two helped UVM notch its first national skiing title since 1994. Glen became the second woman in UVM history to win a U.S. crown in the 15 k classic race.

    After all that, Patterson said they jumped at the chance to race in Canada, about four hours away from their campus in Burlington, Vt.

    “Our college season had ended, we were just out in Montana and had come back, [had a] little bit of school to tend to,” Patterson said. “Why not come up here?”

    “I wanted to come check out the skiing at Mont-Sainte-Anne,” Glens said. “And this [city sprint], this is a huge draw.”

    The two planned to race Monday and Tuesday in the interval starts and then head back to Vermont to prepare for the SuperTour finals in Craftsbury, which start next weekend.

    While the relays didn’t count for much besides pride at Canadian nationals, several racers said they participated because of the atmosphere.

    “Team sprints are special,” Thomas said. “I usually only get to do one a year so this is a nice day.”

    Jones was a World Cup team-sprint veteran, but said the race was still her favorite and probably one of the toughest on the circuit because of its lack of recovery time. She found it especially fun at home.

    “I’m pretty pumped,” Jones said. “The club brought me to where I am, so I love to come race today with Nakkertok; to do it with Alana is awesome.”

    Perianne Jones (Nakkertok/CNST) ahead of the pack in the qualifying round of the team sprint at Canadian nationals
    Start of women's open team sprint final at Canadian nationals with Alana Thomas (Nakkertok) up front

    Open women’s final results

    Complete results

  • Nishikawa Breaks Away to Finish Fifth in Scando Cup 30 k

    Nishikawa Breaks Away to Finish Fifth in Scando Cup 30 k

    Graham Nishikawa of the Alberta World Cup Academy races to the fastest time in the 15 k freestyle pursuit at the NorAm Western Canadian Championships in Canmore, Alberta, on Jan. 22. Photo courtesy of Angus Cockney.

    There’s something to be said about consistency. Canadians Graham Nishikawa and Michael Somppi might say it’s a little annoying.

    With repeat results, the two can’t be too upset with their performances in recent Alpen and Scandinavian Cup races. Both Senior Development Team skiers, Nishikawa and Somppi finished the same as they did in their previous races.

    At the Alpen Cup in Switzerland on Sunday, Nishikawa of the Alberta World Cup Academy was fifth in the 15 k freestyle pursuit. Somppi (National Development Centre-Thunder Bay) skipped the race because of illness, but finished 20th in the preceding Alpen Cup classic sprint.

    On Thursday, Nishikawa was fifth again in the 30 k freestyle mass start at the Scandinavian Cup in Madona, Latvia. Somppi was 20th for the second straight day after Wednesday’s freestyle sprints.

    “Well, another 20th place for me today. It seems to be my number,” Somppi wrote in an email after Thursday’s race. “I felt good on my skis today and am happy with the result. … I gave my best effort today and that’s all I can ask of myself.”

    Somppi noted he avoided several crashes and broken poles throughout the 30 k race by skiing relaxed and aware in a pack of more than 50 skiers. Before the race, he talked to Canadian Paralympian and Foothills skier Brian McKeever, who advised him “to chill out and not waste energy doing little bursts for position,” Somppi wrote.

    The course itself required a hefty amount of energy with 198-meters (650 feet) of climbing per 5 k lap.

    “Doing that 6 times really burned everyone’s legs,” Somppi wrote, commending Nishikawa for his fifth-place finish with an aggressive group of leaders.

    Somppi finished 2:26.67 behind Sweden’s Fredrik Karlsson, who won in 1:15.33.05.

    Nishikawa wrote in an email that the pace out of the mass start was actually pretty slow. That changed about 15 k later.

    “I tried to stay in the top 10 for most of the race – in order to stay out of trouble,” Nishikawa wrote. “[Five] of us got away on the last lap and it came down to a sprint. I could not get very good position on the final hill and came around the final corner in 5th and could not get around anyone – as there was no room.”

    Nishikawa finished fifth, 0.45 seconds behind Karlsson. Another Swede, Lars Nelson was second (+0.20), and Norway’s Kristian Tettli Rennemo and Anders Tettli Rennemo were third and fourth, respectively. Nishikawa was 0.05 seconds out of fourth.

    “It was a great race,” Nishikawa wrote. “I am in very good shape and could match any of the attacks. Losing the sprint is a bit tough to take as it would have been amazing to capitalize on this opportunity.”

    Mike Sinnott of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Gold Team was 15th (+1:12.14) after skiing in fourth shortly after the start. On one of the first downhills, he wrote that he came too close to some other racers, causing him to crash hard when his skis slipped out.

    “I broke a pole and waited for everyone to pile into my rib cage, but somehow they all avoided me,” Sinnott wrote. “That pretty well changed my game plan from there. I found myself dead last and was forced to ski half a climb with one pole, before I grabbed one that was much too large. I traded it out later but wasted a lot of energy fighting through the stragglers – not reaching the lead pack for another 6km but still fighting in the yo yo until about 15km.”

    With about 10 k remaining, he was back in fourth. The eventual top five broke away around 22 k and Sinnott said he pushed a little too hard trying to stay with them.

    “Ten other guys had some patience and moved by me and regained the lead,” he wrote. “At that point it was damage control for me, and I feel I skied well to keep it fairly close. The leaders had some impressive finishing speed considering they were only 20 seconds up with 4km to go.”

    McKeever was 22nd, Peter Kling (Alaska Pacific University) placed 34th, Welly Ramsey (Maine Winter Sports Center) was 44th and Max Christman (Bend Endurance Academy) was 46th out of about 55 competitors.

    ***

    In the women’s 15 k mass start, Becca Rorabaugh of APU was 17th, 3:37.66 behind winner Martine Ek Hagen of Norway. Hagen beat Norwegian runner-up Marte Monrad-Hansen by nearly a minute and three seconds in 41:19.62. Three other Norwegians placed third through fifth.

    Alana Thomas of Nakkertok was the top Canadian in 20th (+3:50.14). In her second week of racing abroad in Europe, she wrote in an email that she expected the start to be faster. She felt comfortable with the pace, which could have been a result of the crowded mass start, and wrote that it picked up one kilometer later.

    “I was tremendously surprised to see how many fast euro girls were doing big ugly snowplows on the downhills,” Thomas wrote. “That’s one skill advantage we North Americans seem to have!”

    She followed her plan and went hard from the start, skiing with Rorabaugh and two Swedes for a lap before falling in the stadium.

    “My fault, quite embarrassing,” Thomas wrote.

    She attempted to catch back up and later tucked in with the group behind them. Feeling strong on the hills, Thomas tried to drop them on a large hill midway through the last lap.

    “Unfortunately the group came back to eat me up in the last k which was mostly downhill and flat,” she wrote. “I guess I needed an uphill finish today!”

    Zoe Roy, who races for Rocky Mountain Racers, StellaRacing and XC Oregon, was 25th. Emily Hannah (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club) was 26th of 30 women in her first career 15 k.

    ***

    The Scandinavian Cup continues this weekend in Albu, Estonia, with classic sprints on Saturday and 10- and 15-k classic races on Sunday.

    Men’s 30 k results

    Women’s 15 k results

     

  • Widmer, Sinnott Trail Norwegians in Scando Cup Final

    Widmer, Sinnott Trail Norwegians in Scando Cup Final

    Phil Widmer (Alberta World Cup Academy) at the NorAm Western Canadian Championships in Canmore, Alberta, on Jan. 22. Photo courtesy of Angus Cockney.

    Any high-level racer will tell you experience is key, but sometimes it’s just as important to take in the moment. Ask Mike Sinnott, a member of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Gold Team who recently competed in a couple of World Cups.

    Six days after placing 37th in the Moscow freestyle sprints for his second-best individual World Cup result, Sinnott made his first Scandinavian Cup start this year on Wednesday in Madona, Latvia. There, the 27-year-old qualified for the freestyle sprint heats in 17th and went on to place sixth in the A-final.

    Mike Sinnott (SVSEF) racing in the NorAm opener at Sovereign Lake in Vernon, British Columbia, on Dec. 10, 2011. Photo by Jesse Winter/jessewinterphotography.com

    Canadian Phil Widmer (Alberta World Cup Academy) also made the Scando Cup final after qualifying in 12th, winning his quarterfinal and placing second in his semifinal. He finished fifth overall after four Norwegians. Kristian Tettli Rennemo won the A-final, Hans Petter Lykkja was second, Eirik Lorentsen placed third and Joergen Braathen was fourth.

    While both Widmer and Sinnott raced on similar European domestic circuits in the past, Sinnott wrote in an email that Wednesday’s races were invaluable as he looked forward to future World Cups.

    “I never qualified for the heats on the World Cup, and that is where I think the real experience was gained today,” he wrote. “I think this helps me better prepare and learn about what to expect in a World Cup race, rather than the other way around. It was a pretty impressive field today.”

    Carried by a little bit of luck and some sprint savvy, Sinnott made it through the rounds, advancing out of the quarterfinal after a crash bumped him from fifth to second. He dodged another pileup about 500 meters from the finish of his semifinal. His pole broke with about 100 meters to go, but he finished third to make the final.

    “There was chaos like I’ve not seen,” Sinnott wrote of the heats. “I think it’s fair to say that I did a better job than other people in avoiding the crashes and I kept myself in contention to take advantage.”

    As for the inevitable learning curve, Sinnott surmised he skied well in places and not so hot in others. He noted the course was windy and difficult to make moves on, particularly on the hills where he “felt great on the climbs but was frequently blocked out.”

    “I think I can climb with those top guys, but I need to work on weaseling through the tight spots and starting faster so I don’t have to,” Sinnott said.

    He also aimed to leave less in the tank and reflected that he should have gone harder in the qualifier, considering he was seeded sixth to start.

    “If this was a couple weeks ago, I would have been happy with how it went. I was racing based on my body from last month, but my February body seems to have more,” Sinnott wrote. “I can’t complain on the day as a whole, and I think it was a great learning experience against some fast skiers.”

    Widmer reported in an email that he felt good in the heats after recovering from stomach bug, which infected the Canadian team. He came down with the multiple-day sickness last Friday after the Alpen Cup classic sprint in Campra, Switzerland. There, he placed fifth after winner Dario Cologna, the defending Tour de Ski champion from Switzerland.

    After qualifying in first on Friday, Widmer said he had hoped for the podium and wasn’t intimidated by World Cup leaders, like Cologna.

    “It’s not my first time to the rodeo so to speak,” wrote Widmer, 28. “The guys over here are fast, but that being said the OPA isn’t light years ahead of the Nor-Am’s in Canada and the US. Obviously Dario is ridiculously fast so to get to ski with him is always something that’s motivating.”

    After placing fifth in his second-straight race since missing Saturday’s 10 k in Campra, Widmer was satisfied overall.

    “I was scrambling at some points and didn’t have as much ‘jam’ as I would have liked in the final,” he wrote. “There’s never a dull moment during these Scando Cups, so being ready for that helps.”

    After Widmer, Michael Somppi (National Development Centre-Thunder Bay) was the next top North American in 20th. He qualified in 29th and was fourth in Widmer’s quarterfinal. Last Friday in Campra, he also qualified in 29th and ended up 20th, which he called, “really odd.”

    “I guess I’m learning how to ski more tactically in heats and maybe able to push myself a little harder when others are setting the pace,” Somppi wrote in an email. “This has been my first time racing heats in international competition and I’m having fun with it.”

    One of several Canadians struck by sickness, Somppi wrote he finished Saturday’s 10 k “with very little energy and was immediately sick upon making it back to our accommodation.”

    Fortunately, the ailment passed and the team was healthy again, according to Somppi. He was looking forward to a challenging 30 k freestyle mass start on Thursday with 198-meters of climbing per 5 k loop.

    Rorabaugh Leads North American Women

    It might be her first Scando Cup race of the season, but Becca Rorabaugh (Alaska Pacific University) knew what to expect after racing in Madona last year. She was 14th in Wednesday’s quarterfinal, the top North American in the women’s freestyle sprints.

    At last year’s 1 k skate sprint in Latvia, Rorabaugh finished 15th. With the Swedish national team there this year, she wrote in an email that 14th was significantly better.

    “The race felt pretty darn good; I have been surprised by how good skiing has felt after the amount of travel that it took to get here,” Rorabaugh wrote after last racing in Alaska at the end of January. “It was really fun to get into a heat with these girls and mix it up a little. I felt like I was in contact the whole way, not really struggling or falling behind, and I was happy with that.”

    She placed third in her quarterfinal behind eventual winner Kjersti Boe (NOR) and Eva Svensson (SWE), who also made it to the A-final and finished fourth. Norwegians Kathrine Rolsted Harsem and Martine Ek Hagen took second and third, respectively. Also for Norway, Kari Vikhagen Gjeitnes was fifth and Maria Nysted Groenboll sixth.

    Rorabaugh recalled the top finishers from last year’s Madona Scando Cup sprint: Norway’s Heidi Weng was second and U.S. Ski Team members Ida Sargent and Jessie Diggins placed a respective fourth and fifth.

    “[They] are on the World Cup tearing it up now, so I know the field is pretty strong,” Rorabaugh wrote.

    Nakkertok racer Alana Thomas also made the quarterfinals, where she finished fifth in her heat and 23rd overall. She qualified in 26th.

    “Today’s sprint went well – definitely picked up a few tips and tricks from the fast Scandinavians,” Thomas wrote. “I had great energy and wasn’t quite able to crack into the top 20 so it was an eye-opening day to see just how fast girls move over here.”

    At the Alpen Cup last weekend, Thomas placed eighth in Sunday’s 10 k freestyle pursuit. She was sick earlier in the week and sat out Friday’s sprint. On Wednesday, Thomas was back at full strength and excited for the 15 k freestyle mass start.

    Emily Hannah (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club) qualified as well on Wednesday, placing 29th in her first race in Europe. Out of 39 competitors, she wrote that she was excited to squeeze into the heats after qualifying in 28th.

    “Right out of the start it [the quarterfinal] was the fastest heat I’ve ever been in,” the 17-year-old wrote. “I just couldn’t keep up. The announcer had said something about a Norwegian in my heat having had some World Cup starts – which I think is pretty cool.”

    Thursday’s race will be Hannah’s first career 15 k.

    “I’m just hoping to find someone to ski with, but I’m sure it’ll be fun no matter what,” she wrote.

    Complete results

  • Self-Described ‘Late Bloomer,’ Thomas Embarks on First OPA Trip

    Rossland NorAm
    Alana Thomas (Nakkertok) rounds a corner in a NorAm 1.4 k freestyle sprint in Rossland, British Columbia, on Dec. 17, 2011. She went on to place 10th overall. (Photo by Dan Roycroft/AWCA)

    When the phone rang and Alana Thomas answered to hear the voice of Tom Holland, Cross Country Canada’s high-performance director, she had a sense of what was coming.

    The 23-year-old Nakkertok racer, who lives and trains in Ottawa, had been waiting for a similar call since she started skiing competitively more than seven years ago.

    With a considerably better-than-average start to her season this year, Thomas knew this might be her best chance to earn a trip to Europe. She had passed the windows for the Junior World and U23 World championships and never belonged to one of the Canadian national team’s elite training centres, yet Thomas had a few results going for her.

    A week and a half ago at the NorAm mini tour in Canmore, Alberta, she placed second in a 5 k classic interval start. She was third in a preceding NorAm skiathlon in Whistler, British Columbia. By her estimations, that put her in the running for Canada’s OPA Tour/convergence trip Feb. 3-12.

    Holland’s news confirmed she was right as he invited her to join a select group of Canadians for the European Continental Cup circuit – the Scandinavian equivalent of NorAms.

    “I tried to play it cool, obviously,” Thomas said with a laugh on the phone Saturday before flying out on Sunday. “It was funny. He’s pretty understated so he was like, ‘You can go if you want,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, OK, I really want to go,’ then I was like, ‘Uh, where does the trip actually go?’ ”

    Canadian OPA/Convergence Tour Schedule:

    Feb. 3-5: OPA Cup in Campra, Switzerland

    Feb. 8-9: Scandinavian Cup in Madonna, Latvia

    Feb. 11-12: Scandinavian Cup in Albu, Estonia

    For more on the trip and the team, click here. 

    Thomas said this will be her first time in Switzerland, Latvia and Estonia, and she never raced in Europe before. She’s mostly excited for the adventure of the whole experience.

    While packing Saturday night, Thomas said she was sorting out some necessities after her last shift at Fresh Air Experience, a ski and bike shop in Ottawa. She remembered to buy a hairdryer outlet adapter, but wasn’t sure what else she’d need.

    As a university student for most of her ski career, the Carleton University grad had been to northeastern China for the 2009 World University Games in Yabuli. The OPA Cup events in Campra, Switzerland, and Scandinavian Cup races in Madonna, Latvia, and Albu, Estonia, would likely be entirely different.

    Regardless, Thomas remained relaxed about the trip. Since flying home from Canmore on Monday, she had been home for six days and spent the early part of the week resting. She sat out the final pursuit race of the mini tour in anticipation of the OPA races she found out about just a day or two before. At the time, Thomas said she felt slightly run down, but was at full strength in a prologue with her Nakkertok teammates on Saturday.

    Alana Thomas racing at the Sovereign Lake NorAm (Photo: Jesse Winter Photography / jessewinterphotography.com)

    “For me, it’s huge. It’s so satisfying,” Thomas said of the trip. “It kind of makes me feel like, ‘Oh, I can do this,’ even if it doesn’t result in being on the national team or going to the Olympics.”

    After graduating high school in her hometown of Mississauga, Ontario, she explored her racing options and applied to several national development centres.

    “I always got turned down so I just sort of thought, ‘Well, I guess school’s the right place for me then,’ ” she said. “ ‘If I’m not good enough for that, I might as well go to school and keep skiing, have fun.’ ”

    She started at the University of Toronto and transferred to Carleton University two years later for better skiing opportunities. There, she joined Nakkertok, and in December 2010, graduated with an economics degree. While most of her competitors took the more common path in Canada and jumped into full-time training after high school, Thomas said the balance kept her going strong later.

    “It was at some points super-discouraging, feeling like, ‘Yeah, I really want to ski race, and I really want to be good at this, but I can’t go to a training centre,’ ” she said. “Maybe I’ll just try to tell myself I’m a late bloomer.”

    In her first season without studies on her mind, Thomas was happy with her decision to stay with the sport for at least another year. Despite holding two jobs, including a teaching-assistant position at Carleton, she devoted last fall to training and said it made the difference this season.

    “Usually I don’t really find my groove until January,” she said. “I tried to be on my game a little earlier in the season this year.”

    Of the seven athletes who will race on the European circuit, Thomas is one of the few without ties to a training centre. Zoe Roy races independently with the help of several teams, including the Rocky Mountain Racers, and Brian McKeever of the Foothills Nordic Ski Club is also a national team Paralympian.

    Three members of the Alberta World Cup Academy will also race in Europe: Alysson Marshall, Graham Nishikawa and Phil Widmer. Michael Somppi will represent the Thunder Bay’s National Development Centre on the team along with head coach Eric Bailey, the appointed team leader.

    Looking ahead, Thomas said she was especially excited for the 5 k classic in Switzerland and a 15 k freestyle mass start in Latvia. An outsider to the competition, she wasn’t sure what to expect, but said she would attack each race and with the intention of feeling good about every performance.

    “Hopefully the results are, well, I don’t know, they’ll be what they are,” Thomas said. “I kind of feel like I have my chance, like they’ve given me a chance to kind of prove myself or get a little more experience. I’m hoping to take this chance and run with it and go over there and be focused. … Hopefully it all goes well.”

  • Nishikawa Makes it 3 of 4 In Tight 5k

    On a frosty day in Canmore, Alberta, Emily Nishikawa (AWCA) skied to her third NorAm victory of the season, winning the women’s five-kilometer classic by 5.4 seconds over Alana Thomas (Nakkertok Nordic).

    Alysson Marshall (Larch Hills/CNT) finished third.

    With temperatures recorded at -15C (5F) organizers decided to move the classic distance races from Saturday to Friday, swapping with the freestyle sprint. Concerns of cancellation due to cold also motivated a contingency plan that involved a one-day pursuit with a break on Saturday, and the cancellation of the sprint.

    But the mercury climbed above the legal limit, good news for Nishikawa who continued a consistent season at the top of the domestic circuit, while drawing first blood in the first stage of a three-race mini-tour.

    Emily Nishikawa racing earlier this winter. Photo: Jesse Winter Photography.

    She continued a streak of top-10 finishes—in eight NorAm races, she has finished no worse than ninth, and has now won three of her last four starts.

    “I was definitely excited to race again today,” Nishikawa told FasterSkier. “It was a short course, it was tough, especially because it was so cold.”

    The race featured two 2.5k laps on the notoriously challenging Canmore courses.

    Because of the short distance, Nishikawa planned to be aggressive from the gun.

    “Because it’s such a short race I wanted to start hard,” she said. “I did fade on the second lap, but I had the quick first lap so I was able to stay ahead.”

    At the end of the first loop, Nishikawa was 7.3 seconds up on both Thomas and Marshall, so her fade, while not inconsequential, was not dramatic.

    She pointed to the significant rest at the end of the lap, as the course dropped back to the stadium, as key, allowing good recovery for the second round and the finish push.

    While the race for first was close, the remaining two spots on the podium were even tighter.

    Marshall clocked in just .4 seconds behind Thomas, with Brittany Webster (Highland Trailblazer) another .6 seconds back in fourth.

    Thomas was “super-happy” with her performance, and her season thus far.

    “My goals have been top 5,” Thomas said in an interview. “I feel like I’ve been there and am kind of surprised.”

    She focused on the climbs, and was not intimidated by the steep and lengthy ascents, viewing the race as “two [hard hill] intervals,” one at the start of each lap.

    “It was pretty tough, but I tried to tell myself everyone’s hurting. You’re not special,” Thomas said. “You’ve got to be good at lying to yourself.”

    Marshall, who leads the season-long NorAm series, Canada’s continental cup circuit, knew exactly where she stood, receiving splits throughout the race.

    Alana Thomas racing at the Sovereign Lake NorAm (Photo: Jesse Winter Photographer)

    “I was pretty steady the whole race except for the second climb of the second lap,” Marshall told FasterSkier. “I just didn’t have the extra oomph I needed to catch Emily [Nishikawa].”

    And after entering the second lap even with Thomas, Marshall came up just a bit short in the competition for second place.

    “I won one battle and lost the other one, that’s the way it goes especially for such a short race,” Marshall said.

    The tight field sets up the potential for a hotly contested fight through the weekend, a series of events that is also considered the Western Canadian Championships.

    The weather is supposed to shift dramatically, with temperatures forecasted to climb above freezing for Saturday’s skate sprint, though the arctic air impacted more than just the race schedule.

    Settled in for the week, the frigid temps limited training opportunities.

    Nishikawa said she managed only two easy skis during the week, while Thomas remained in Vancouver, so only ventured out to train on Thursday.

    She noted that as a native of southern Ontario, “minus 30 is pretty cold,” though race day was “not as bad as expected.”

    Marshall also minimized her efforts outdoors.

    “I did a lot less time on the snow than I would have liked going into the race,” she said. “I did Zone 3 on a treadmill Wednesday. It just meant [little] skiing and very slow skis.”

    Nishikawa took forty points out of Marshall’s 100 point overall NorAm lead, and passed Jessie Diggins (CXC/USST), the American who won the first four events of the season, for second on the ranking list.

    Thomas is currently fourth.

    Racing continues on Saturday with a freestyle sprint.

    Complete Results

    Alex Matthews contribute reporting.

  • Nishikawa Takes First Season Victory in Whistler NorAm Skiathlon

    Canada's Emily Nishikawa racing to 16th place at U23 World Championships in Estonia last winter.

    On a blue sky day in Whistler, BC, Emily Nishikawa (Alberta World Cup Academy) skied away from the rest of the NorAm field for her first win of the season. She completed the 15 k skiathlon at the Whistler Olympic Park in 46:03.0, just 7.0 seconds ahead of runner-up Alysson Marshall (AWCA). Alana Thomas (Nakkertok) took a close third (+7.2).

    The lead women skied in a pack for the classic portion of the race, and after the exchange to skate gear, Nishikawa said she made her move in the final lap, pulling away from Marshall, Thomas and Zoe Roy (Stella Racing), who finished 9.3 seconds back.

    Racing in Whistler this weekend is a return to familiar territory for Nishikawa, who has previously trained with the host club, the Callaghan Valley Training Center.

    “I know the trails pretty well,” said Nishikawa, who is a member of Cross Country Canada’s Senior Development Team. “It’s definitely good to be back.”

    The series of three races over four days—Thursday’s skiathlon, a freestyle sprint on Saturday and a 10/15 k classic on Sunday—serve as Canada’s trials for its World Junior and U23 Championship teams. In the past, an outright win at the trials has guaranteed skiers a spot on the team, which has Nishikawa pretty pleased with her race.

    “The goal is to perform well at U23s, but the first step is to qualify, so I’m pretty excited,” she said. “This takes some pressure off.”

    Marshall, her teammate at AWCA, was happy with her execution of the skiathlon.

    “I tried to stay relaxed for the classic portion and my exchange went well,” she wrote in an email. “I started to get fatigued in the skate section and Emily got away from me in the last lap and I wasn’t able to reel her back in.”

    Overall, she said she felt good out on the course. Marshall is also a member of Canada’s Senior Development team, and competed on the World Cup earlier this season.

    Marshall was happy with the conditions at Whistler—”It was sunny, the tracks were fairly firm and my skis were great!” she said.

    For Thomas, Thursday’s third-place finish was her highest of the season thus far. “My plan for the year is to do as many NorAms as I can and do my best in all of them,” she said.

    Last week, Thomas competed in the freestyle sprint at U.S Nationals in Rumford, ME, where she posted the 10th-fastest time in the qualifier. On the opposite side of the continent on Thursday, Thomas said her energy was up.

    “My plan was to go out hard and stay with the fastest girls I could,” said Thomas. From there, she tried to ski calm and keep the effort up through the finish.

    Competition resumes in Whister on Saturday with the freestyle sprint.

    Women’s skiathlon results.