Nipissing Nordic makes strides at Eastern Canadian Championships

Nipissing Nordic’s varsity squad returns to their local trails after a weekend of racing in the hills of Nakkertok South, near Cantley, Quebec, representing the university at the Eastern Canadian Championships and showing what kind of cross-country skiers this community can produce.

Nipissing Nordic’s top result came from second-year team member Lynsey Bialkowski, who placed 33rd in the open women’s 10km individual start freestyle event, and 18th among female varsity racers from Ontario and Quebec. Her superb effort in her strong skate technique was tested against some of the fastest women in the country vying to qualify for FIS points and World Cup starts in Europe.

The team’s top men’s result in Saturday’s middle-distance skate race came from team captain Andrew Kerr, who put in a solid effort for a 106th place finish in the 15km individual start freestyle event, with a decent finishing time of 44.34.4. The men’s team raced 30km in the classic technique for the second day of racing, with first-year team members Kamran Mirshahi and Kevin Durkee pushing for 101st and 102nd place finishes respectively in an extremely strong field of ski racers.

Partnered North Bay Nordic Junior Racing Team member Madison Fraser made it to the podium for a 3rd place finish in the juvenille girls’ middle-distance skate race, with teammate Aaron Birosh bringing home bronze in the juvenille boys’ mass start classic, long-distance event. This university-community partnership bodes well for the program and for North Bay’s reputation as a centre for skier development in Canada.

In the women’s 15km classic pursuit-start race, veteran Nipissing Nordic skier Brianna Yard pulled out a spirited sprint to the finish to get by McGill University racer Robin Krug with 0.5 seconds to spare at the line, earning herself a respectable 66th place finish overall.

Race notice from the Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS).

Saturday race results here.

Sunday race results here.