Many members of the Methow Valley Nordic Team ventured to Sovereign Lake Nordic Center in Vernon, B.C., last weekend for a BC Cup race. Competition included events for skiers aged 6–60.
Saturday was a classic sprint, with the youngest skiers sprinting 100 meters and the older competitors racing up to 1.2 kilometers. The racers ran a sprint qualifier followed by heats from which the top two from each age bracket advanced.
Several Methow Valley skiers made it into final heats (top six), with others vying for spots from seventh through12th. Unfortunately, final results were never posted but the qualifying times can be found at http://zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=7822&cat=all.
Leki Allbright placed third in the Peewee girls’ 1.4K race this past weekend.
Sunday morning was an individual skate competition and coach Gregg Strome noted that all racers met or exceeded their expectations. Leki Albright was the first Methow Valley skier to take to the trail, placing third in the Peewee girls’ 1.4K race in a field of 19. Ben Kaufman was second and Emmet Bondi sixth in the Peewee boys’ 1.4K race.
Mariah Lucy was a close second (1 second out of first) in the Bantam girls’ 2K, followed by Dashe McCabe in sixth, Jory Grialou in seventh, Stella Scholz in 10th, Amelia Bondi in 17th, Wyatt Albright 25th, Payten Kaufman 29th, Elke Wathen 34th and Stella Gitchos 35th.
In the Midget girls’ 3.75K, Liv Aspholm placed 10th, Lindsay Worrell 11th and Jess Dinham 38th. In the Midget boys’ class, Walker Hall was a close third (2 seconds behind the second-place finisher) and Zane Strome was ninth.
The Juvenile girls raced 5K and Novie McCabe beat out B.C. star Molly Miller, taking the win by 20 seconds, with teammate Gretta Scholz finishing ninth. The Juvenile boys found Emerson Worrell in 15th and Peter Aspholm in 23rd in this competitive class. Geza Sukovaty was the lone Junior Man racing and he was ninth in a mixed field of older boys and master men, showing some of his best form of the year. Full results can be found at http://zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=7824&cat=all.
Race of the Methow, plus biathlon
The local athletes returned home for a week of training and to compete in the Race of the Methow on the McCabe Trail at Liberty Bell High School this weekend (Jan. 16–17), a regional race in which athletes are vying for spots on the PNSA Junior National team.
The Race of the Methow is open to skiers of all ages. Racing will begin at 9 a.m. each day. All racing on Saturday is skate. U10-senior/master skiers will do sprint format with a qualifying time trial and heats. Consolation heats will be used so that everyone gets to experience at least two rounds of racing after the qualifying time trial. U8 skiers will do a mass-start, untimed “lollipop” race.
All racing on Sunday is classic distance format. U10-U20 and adult skiers will have individual interval starts. U8 skiers will do a mass-start, untimed “lollipop” race.
Information can be found at http://methowvalleynordic.com/event/race-of-the-methow-2016/.
New this year, Methow Valley Biathlon will host a race at the McCabe Trail on Monday (Jan. 18). Novices are welcome to participate but must take a safety clinic on Sunday afternoon.
The novice race will be a sprint format with two shooting bouts. The experienced race will be a pursuit format with four shooting bouts. Both races will use 30-second intervals for the start.
Registration is online at Webscorer at www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=59694 and closes on Saturday (Jan. 16). On-site registration will be available on Sunday between 12:30 and 1:15 p.m. for an extra $5. There is no day-of-race registration. Skiers must be at least 9 years old to participate.
