‘Twas to be a super busy week on the local high-school scene with no less than three separate city championships on the go: nordic ski, alpine ski and wrestling.
A pair of snow days would leave just one of the three standing. But while inclement weather may have squashed the plans of some, the one that remained could not have asked for any better conditions for a meet outdoors – or so I thought.
“It wasn’t horrible but if it was a bit cooler, the snow would be more dense and you would be able to slide more,” noted Callum Wiss of Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School, not long after the completion of the SDSSAA Nordic Ski Championships on Tuesday.
He’s a young man who should know.
An accomplished competitor on the club side as well, partaking in the Ontario Cup circuit as a member of Walden Cross-Country, the 14 year old grade nine student captured gold in the junior boys open event, setting the stage for what could very well be a shot at an OFSAA medal.
Mind you, the multi-sport athlete who also will be sporting the Knights’ colours in basketball, cross-country and track and field settings must first contend will battling the NOSSA contingent at the North Bay Nordic Ski Club in a week’s time, away from the home course setting which he enjoyed for SDSSAA and has become nicely accustomed to.
“This course is nice,” said Wiss. “You sort of go up for most of it then get a big rest on the downhill – and then you’re done. I like it a lot.”
And where he must juggle both classic ski races with those of the skate style variety, it's the latter that is exclusive to the high-school nordic competitors - a reality that Wiss is more than happy to live with.
"I like skate more," he acknowledged. "I find it more technical and you can go faster, so it's more fun."
With just three months of nordic ski experience, St Charles College senior Joel Szydziak was part of the newly-introduced “exhibition race” – a wonderful addition to the meet, I might add – still very much getting his bearings out on the snow. Still, even he could offer some insight to the conditions that would see temperatures hover a few degrees above zero on a beautifully sunny day.
“It’s nice because it’s warm – but the snow I find is sticky and kind of crunchy,” said Szydziak, a 16 year old who self-describes as “not really a sports guy”.
“I’m not a big fan of that snow because you have to use more power. I prefer, I think, the powered snow – but since I only started three months ago, I’m not 100% sure what the best conditions are, so when I go out, it’s kind of random chance.”
Getting his first taste of the sport via the more traditional classic style of skiing, Szydziak now has a wider spectrum of ski perspective at his disposal thanks to having the chance to participate in the city-wide event.
“I signed up thinking it was classic and then found out it was skate skiing,” he admitted with a smile. “It’s a completely different technique in some ways with the feet. You kind of put one foot down, then the other.”
Speaking of technique, Szydziak has enjoyed most of his practice workouts on the university trails where his school provides a pass. "I'm used to Laurentian where there are big uphills and big downhills," said the grade 11 ski enthusiast.
"This is much more flat. I like Laurentian; it's a workout and you get to practice offset, which I am not the greatest at."
Lo-Ellen senior Grace Thomas (1st place – Sr Girls – HS) is perhaps a little ahead of Szydziak, just from a technical standpoint, though the 16 year-old long-time member of the Sudbury Laurentian Swim Club still finds herself pulled, at times, in both directions.
“I try and find a balance to do as much skiing as I do swimming, but it’s kind of hard,” said Thomas, one of four highly athletic children in the family. “Skiing is winter only. I talked to my coach in swimming about using skiing as cross-training. If I can’t go to (swim) practice but I can get out skiing, I’ll go out and use skiing as training.”
“More recently, I have found skiing to be more of a passion for me. Swimming has always been there.”
Thankfully, beyond simply the cardio benefits, there is some cross-over between the two disciplines that Thomas insists build off one another. "The upper body: for skiing, the upper body is not talked about enough - but it's very important," she said.
The top three finishers in the various categories included:
Junior Girls – Open1st – Maija Nener (LOE) - 17:35
2nd – Bailey Raymond (CND) - 20:55
Junior Girls – H-S
1st – Gracie Dale (LOE) - 17:47
2nd – Tyla MacLeod (BAC) - 19:05
3rd – Kalia Pharand (HOR) - 19:39
Junior Boys – Open
1st – Callum Wiss (LOE) - 15:57
2nd – Olivier Tremblay (ESMC) - 16:14
3rd – Théo Chartrand (CND) - 17:01
Junior Boys – H-S
1st – Corey Lacroix (LOE) - 17:06
2nd – Raphael Belzile (ESMC) - 17:43
3rd – Isaac Longston (LCS) - 18:37
Senior Girls – Open
1st – Lauren Pineau (LCS) - 22:15
2nd – Madeleine Tremblay (CND) - 23:25
3rd – Finlay Cuza (LOE) - 25:20
Senior Girls – H-S
1st – Grace Thomas (LOE) - 24:31
2nd – Georgia Lepage (STB) - 25:56
3rd – Ivy Schulte-Hostedde (LCS) - 26:00
Senior Boys – Open
1st – Kaeden Ward (LOE) - 17:57
2nd – Russell Joiner (LOE) - 20:44
3rd – Logan Lariviere (Lively) - 21:54
Senior Boys – H-S
1st – Liam Lacroix (LOE) - 19:42
2nd – Sam Rice (LOE) - 20:10
3rd – Owen Dobson (LOE) - 21:15
