The Ravens cross-country ski team broke out at Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Nordic Championships last week, with the women’s team taking home the gold medal and the men’s team winning the silver medal.
The championship consisted of three events with points being awarded based on individual rankings in the races, adding up to a team score.
The races included a 12.5 kilometre mass start classic event, a 7.5 kilometre individual skate ski event and a three kilometre three-person relay race.
The men’s team took home relay gold as the women’s team finished the relay in second after being overtaken by Lakehead University on the anchor leg.
Stand-out performers of the week were Zoë Williams and Aidan Kirkham, who both doubled winning gold medals in the individual races.
Ezra Pierce scored himself a silver medal in the skate race and a top 10 in the mass start. Maggie McClure took home bronze in the classic race.
Williams was honoured by the OUA and by Carleton as female athlete of the week.
Williams has been having a stellar but tiresome season, having arrived to the championships after racing 14 times in January.
She raced in the U.S. Nationals in Vermont World Championship Qualifications at Bishop’s University, the Lake Placid U.S. super tour event and then Eastern Canadian championships in Oro Medonte Ontario.
“January was super good. I had my first Noram top five in senior women’s, and then the day after, I had my first podium . . . the next day I podiumed,” Williams said on her impressive haul from racing at Bishop’s.
Williams enjoyed having that weekend off to prepare and transition for OUAs.
“We did just some race prep stuff to stay sharp and then a distance to maintain the base,” Williams said.
“Then, we did a 10 by one-minute workout all out uphill classic skiing workout, and it was super, super hard. But, there were lots of people out on the trails so that made it really good and motivating, I guess.”
The team travelled to Nipissing University to race in the OUA Nordic Championship on newly refurbished trails. The race course from last year was extended 750 metres and included a new steep incline within the last kilometre of the race.
The team checked out the course the day before the race to tested skis. Williams went with a pretty standard hard wax ski—Salomon S-Lab Yellow.
Williams engaged in a close battle with University of Toronto’s (U of T) Alannah MacLean the first day. MacLean and Williams have been racing against each other for years.
MacLean’s younger sister, Isabelle is a former teammate of Williams at Carleton.
“There was a lot of double pole, but also a lot of uphill, so my goal for that day was really just to string things out early on,” Williams said.
The plan worked with only her and MacLean leaving the stadium together early on, opening a wide margin.
They remained close for most of the race, with nothing coming from Williams’ probing surges. The pace remained high during the race as they refused to let others back in.
“I ended up leading the whole race, but she was breathing down my neck . . . I was kind of just trying to figure out a good place to make a move,” Williams said.
“As the race went on, I realized we were pretty equal in striding, but my double pole was stronger that day. So, I found a place about one kilometre out from the finish, and just hammered all the way to the line, and I won,” she added.
Williams led the way, but it was the entire women’s team that shined. Teammate Maggie McClure finished behind Williams to take third place. Laura Inkila finished in fifth, Alyssa Stowe and rookie Chloe Ranahan both finished in the top 10, winning seventh and ninth, respectively.
Another highlight from the weekend was the men winning the relay in a nail-biting finish.
The team will branch off next week as Alex Slobodian and Aidan “The Notorious AK” Kirkham will be competing at the Fédération Internationale Sport Universiade Nordic championships. The event is only for university students and serves as a secondary world championship.
Colin Ward and McClure are spending this week representing Team Nova Scotia at the Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, Alta.
Ranahan will be representing Team Ontario for the first time in Red Deer as Inkila will serve as an alternate for the team.
The rest of the Ravens nordic skiing team will be training in Ottawa as they prepare for the national championship taking place in Cantley, Qué.
The national championship will have five races running from Mar. 13-20.
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