Midget girls got ready to race in the relay start area in competition at Kelowna, B.C.
Methow contingent heading to Jr. Nationals in Utah
The Methow Valley Nordic Team (MVNT) traveled north to West Kelowna, B.C., for the B.C. Championships the weekend of Feb 17-18. Telemark Nordic Club hosted three days of racing on interesting and challenging trails for more than 600 racers each day, MVNT director Leslie Hall reported.
Friday started off with mass start skate races, with 23 MVNT skiers competing in a variety of age groups.
In the PeeWee class (ages 8-9), Ely Talbert placed 13th and Marit Nelson tied for 1st.
The Bantams were up next (ages 10-11) with four MVNT skiers competing. Dexter Delaney placed 10th and Emmet Bondi was 20th in the boys’ race. Dashe McCabe was the fastest Bantam out there, boy or girl, Hall reported. Leki Albright was 8th out of 51 girls.
The Midget girls raced a challenging 3.5-kilometer course with Jori Grialou battling for 2nd place, followed by Lilia Kuzyk in 5th, Mariah Lucy 13th, Mahali Kuzyk 15th, Stella Scholz 22nd, Wyatt Albright 23rd and Amelia Bondi in 36th.
The Juvenile boys raced a 7K for their mass start and stayed in a pack for the whole race, with Travis Grialou beating Walker Hall to the line for 2nd and 3rd places respectively. Ian Delong placed 13th and Bodhi Kuzyk 24th.
The Juvenile girls raced the challenging 5K course with Eva Weymuller finishing in 17th, Lena Nelson 27th and Keeley Brooks 31st.
The MVNT Junior girls dominated the field with Novie McCabe winning the 7K race by over a minute, followed by Ella Kuzyk in 2nd and Gretta Scholz in 3rd.
An overnight storm brought fresh snow and some wind for the individual start classic races on Saturday, Hall reported.
Ely Talbert placed 21st in the 1.5K PeeWee event. Marit Nelson won her classic Peewee race by a good margin.
Dexter Delaney took 7th in the Bantam boys 2K race and Emmet Bondi was 27th. Dashe McCabe was the fastest Bantam again with Leki Albright a strong 4th place.
The Midget girls were challenged with a 5.4K race, longer than they had encountered before. Jori Grialou placed 2nd, Mariah Lucy 11th, Stella Scholz 16th, Mahali Kuzyk 23rd, Lilia Kuzyk 25th, Wyatt Albright 29th and Amelia Bondi 35th.
The Juvenile girls also skied a longer race than they are accustomed to, competing in a two-lap, 7K race. Eva Weymuller had a strong race to finish 9th (1st for the 2003 birth years), Lena Nelson 25th and Keeley Brooks 26th.
The Juvenile boys skied the challenging 5K loop twice for a tough 10K race. Walker Hall skied a strong race to finish 2nd, Travis Grialou placed 12th, Ian Delong 15th and Bodhi Kuzyk 24th.
Novie McCabe overwhelmed the girls’10K race field, skiing 3 minutes faster than any other female that skied the course. Ella Kuzyk maintained her solid 2nd place position in the Junior girls’ class and Gretta Scholz finished 8th.
The competitors each skated on three-person relay teams of combined age categories. Emmet Bondi, Marit Nelson and Dexter Delaney made up one team but had to compete against the Midget skiers so were in a tough group, Hall reported. Their team finished a respectable 17th.
The Midget girls were able to make three teams, with Dashe McCabe, Lilia Kuzyk and Jori Grialou skiing to 2nd place as the Granny Panties; followed by the Power Puff girls (Mariah Lucy, Mahali Kuzyk and Stella Scholz) in 4th; and Sparkle Sensation (Wyatt Albright, Leki Albright and Amelia Bondi) placing 8th.
The Juveniles combined with the Junior skiers in a three-by-three, 5K event. Walker Hall, Ian Delong and Travis Grialou teamed up to place 7th; and Bodhi Kuzyk joined a Canadian Team from Caledonia.
The Sleeping Beauties (Ella Kuzyk, Gretta Scholz and Novie McCabe) won the girls’ Junior/juvenile category with Happy Feet (Hadassah Lurbur, Eva Weymuller and Keeley Brooks) placing 8th.
Junior Nationals start in Utah on March 5, Hall noted. MVNT qualifiers are Novie McCabe, Gretta Scholz, Ella Kuzyk, Eva Weymuller, Walker Hall, Travis Grialou, Ian DeLong, Bodhi Kuzyk, and two athletes who qualified but won’t be able to make it: Eli Nielsen (who is in Estonia at the World Junior Biathlon Championships) and Keeley Brooks (who will be attending a violin competition).
