Vancouver Island鈥檚 cross-country ski club, the Strathcona Nordics, travelled to Whistler on the Feb. 10-11 weekend, to compete in Teck BC Cup #2, the second of the BC Cup racing series.
For many of the young athletes, it was their first ski race off Vancouver Island.
More than 350 athletes, ranging in age from 7 to 62 years old, travelled from all areas of the province to compete in the two days of racing at Ski Callaghan.
The first day of racing was a series of classic technique interval start races. It was a challenging course with steep uphill climbs and tight hairpin turns, designed for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Race distances ranged from 750 metres for the youngest to 10 km for the oldest. The Strathcona Nordic Ski Club team of 53 athletes shone with seven podium finishes.
U10 Mariana Smith, U14 Amelia Moore of Comox and U18 Gavin Chatterton of Campbell River each won gold medals. Full-time UBC student U20 Anna Chatterton of Campbell River and U20 Rory Bratrud of Comox finished second and third, respectively, and younger team members U8 Soren Jakobsen of Nanaimo and U10 Finlay Warder of Victoria both brought home bronze medals. U12 boys Edward Havelaar of Campbell River and Finn Jakobsen of Nanaimo also had strong finishes, finishing fourth and sixth, respectively.
All of the club鈥檚 youngest athletes had top-10 finishes in their age categories, with U8 Zephyr Castellan finishing sixth, U10 Emilia Holyome fourth, U10 Harper Harmatiuk sixth, U10 Lynne Havelaar seventh, U10 Soren Castellan fourth and U10 Aiden Kapalka fifth.
Five Strathcona Nordic Masters took on the challenge to compete in the final 7.5 km races.
The second day of racing was a mass start skate technique race and the club achieved 30 top-10 finishes in some very competitive, tough races. Both Jakobsen and Smith crossed the finish line well ahead of the rest of their competitors and captured gold, while Moore and Gavin Chatterton both claimed silver medals. Anna Chatterton and Bratrud finished second and third, respectively, and Jakobsen also finished third, winning a bronze medal. U12 boys Elliot Warder of Victoria finished a close fifth and Bjorn Bohac of Comox finished in sixth.
The youngest racers had strong results again, with Castellan coming fourth, U8 Karl Havelaar seventh, Holyome a very close fourth, Harmatiuk fifth, Havelaar sixth, U10 Finlay Warder fourth, Castellan fifth and Kapalka placing sixth.
Many hard-working and dedicated parent volunteers did a great job coaching and waxing for a very successful race for over 50 skiers and their families over the weekend.
鈥淚 was extremely proud to be able to cheer on our team at the BC Cup races in Whistler,鈥� said coach Jay Havelaar. 鈥淥ur Devos made their coaches proud with great efforts and great attitudes all weekend. I am particularly proud of the fact that our Devos were great ambassadors for our club: cheering on their teammates, congratulating their competitors, and thanking race officials, organizers and volunteers.鈥�
Eight of the club鈥檚 ski athletes are now off to Quesnel for the 2024 BC Winter Games and many others will be competing in the Teck BC Track Attack Championships in West Kelowna or the 2024 Coast Outdoors P鈥檡akentsut at Ski Callaghan this upcoming weekend (Feb. 23-25).
The Strathcona Nordic Ski Club is Vancouver Island鈥檚 only cross-country ski club, with members from all over Vancouver Island. For more information, visit www.strathconanordics.com
