The Strathcona Nordic Ski Club recently competed at the 2025 Nordiq Canada Cross-Country Ski Nationals in Canmore, Alberta, from March 17 to March 23.
Twelve Strathcona Nordics athletes, including coach Bertrand Hamoumraoui, competed over the week-long competition at the Canmore Nordic Centre. In total, the event attracted over 790 athletes from across Canada. Nationals are important for the club鈥檚 older athletes as an opportunity to race against some of the fastest young athletes in Canada in larger groups than at provincial races.
The team arrived Friday, March 14 to pre-ski the world-class race courses, prepare for the upcoming races, and for the waxers to get the wax dialled.
The week of racing kicked off with an interval start skate race which saw the U16 athletes racing a very challenging world-cup 5km course. Amelia Moore from the Comox Valley had an amazing result, fishing 4th in her category and first for her year of birth. In the U16 boys category, Cameron Meldrum skied a strong race including recording the second-fastest time on the timed descent segment (King of the Mountain) followed closely by his brother Owen Meldrum in 11th and Max Sauter in 16th. Gavin Chatterton and Everett Wells in the U18 Boys category both raced two laps of the difficult 5km course. Chatterton skied to 16th with Wells also skiing an impressive race, improving on his seed position in a field of over 115 racers. Reed McInnis, Max Sauter and Owen Meldrum also had strong performances at their first national race.
The second day of racing featured a classic sprint on a 1.0km course. Cameron Meldrum, Gavin Chatterton and Amelia Moore all qualified in the top 30 in their category and advanced to sprint quarter-finals. Meldrum ended up improving to 19th in the U16 Boys category after a hard fight in his quarterfinal. Chatterton, who set the fourth fastest time in the qualifier, won his quarter but got knocked out in a stacked semifinal, finishing 11th in U18 Boys. Amelia Moore, once again, skied to an impressive fourth place in U16 Girls and first for her year of birth.
Day three was a rest day for the U16 and U18 athletes but was the first day of racing for the U20 and Open categories who completed two laps of the same 5km course. Amelia Wells of Victoria skied an impressive interval skate race, winning by a comfortable 15 seconds in the senior women category. Carly Ram of the Comox Valley also had an amazing race securing second place in U20 women and her first podium of the week. Coach Bertrand Hamoumraoui raced in the interval start 10km skate placing an impressive 17th in the extremely competitive Open Men (especially considering his lack of warm-up).
Day four saw the U16 and U18 racers ski their longest race of the week with the U16 athletes skiing in the 10km Classic mass start, and the U18 athletes skiing 15km. Both categories had deep mass starts with over 115 starters each. Despite overtaking being difficult in the packed start, Reed MacInnis gained spots in the challenging classic 10km.
Day five had all the Strathcona Nordic athletes racing on provincial mixed-gender, mixed-technique relay teams where they helped their teams ski to podium results. Amelia Wells raced a dominant opening leg to help lead her University of Calgary team to a commanding two-minute win. Amelia Moore in U16 skied the second fastest time on her leg of the relay, gaining a position and helping her team finish 3rd. In the U18 mixed relay, Gavin Chatterton skied a strong second leg, gaining two positions and putting his team in position to secure the last spot on the podium in 3rd.
Day six had the U20 and Open categories racing on an exciting 1.3km classic sprint course which saw Maddie Galik, Carly Ram, and Amelia Wells all place in the top 30 and advance to heats. Galik raced a strong quarterfinal which saw her advance to the semifinals, ultimately finishing 11th. After qualifying 8th Ram placed 3rd in the final, securing the bronze in U20 women. Wells once again raced to the podium finishing 2nd in the Open Women category.
Day seven wrapped up the week with the Open categories racing six laps of the 5km course in the 30km classic mass start and the U20s racing 20km on the 5km course. Amelia Wells capped off her dominant weekend by winning the 30km after making a break from the lead pack on the last lap. Anna Chatterton also had a strong race in the 30km skiing to 29th with impressive lap splits and achieving her goal of top 30.
Nationals wrapped up the season for most of the older juniors who are now moving on to other off-season activities. Special thanks to our head coach and wax techs, Bertrand Hamoumraoui, Andrew MacInnis and Paul Chatterton who were testing and waxing non-stop throughout the week.
"Finally, thanks to all of the volunteers, waxers, sponsors, parents and coaches who made this season very successful for all of our Strathcona Nordics athletes," a release from the team says.
