Rave reviews for Nipissing's first OUA on campus Nordic race

The Nipissing Nordic varsity team and North Bay Nordic ski club co-hosted the first Ontario University Athletics Nordic ski races of the season this past weekend.

Teams from across Ontario came out to race in the freestyle technique on Saturday at North Bay Nordic, and in classic technique on Sunday at the campus trails, with the frozen pond transformed into a stadium filled with cheering spectators, coaches, and athletes.

The races featured 99 athletes, plus their coaches and wax technicians, as well as over 60 volunteers from the university and North Bay Nordic ski club.

Colin Abbott from Carleton University set the course lap record for the new 3.3 km campus ski trail with a time of 0:09:52.7. Mary Thompson from Laurentian University set the record for the women with a time of 0:11:26.9.

Full race results can be accessed here: http://www.zone4.ca/

"It was fantastic day,” said Nipissing Nordic coach Toivo Koivukoski. “Racers enjoyed the twisty, technical forest trails and state-of-the-art grooming that Nipissing’s tails offer. Many of the coaches commented positively on our facilities and one Carleton racer, who had one of his best ever OUA races, said that Nipissing was his favorite course, ever.”

Nipissing Nordic was represented on the men's side by Brenton Fairintosh, Bradley Coddington, and Andrew Kerr, and on the women's side by Brianna Yard, who was overcome by health issues both days. The team is building towards the Eastern Canadian Championships at the end of January, the OUA Championships in mid-February, and the Canadian National championships in Whitehorse in mid-March.