The Strathcona Nordic cross country ski team recently competed at the provincial championships at Larch Hills, near Salmon Arm.
The Championships mark the last of the BC Cup racing series with three days of racing including a mass start classic race, interval skate and finishing with a team relay. The weekend also included an awards banquet where aggregate awards are given to athletes who accumulated the most points for racing in their age category at the BC Cup races for the season.
The first day of racing was a mass start classic event. Gillian Galik of Royston recovered from a fall mid-race to capture the Silver medal. Gabe Gledhill of Cumberland persevered on the difficult 11.25km course to come third. Emmanuel Bussani was fifth in his age category and Emma Wong of Comox and Gavin Chatterton of Campbell River both skied to an impressive fifth place finish.
The interval skate race proved to be a strength for the Strathcona athletes with 8 of 15 athletes finishing in the top five.
“Our skis were the fastest out there on the course today,” said Stephen Lamon, as he was able to gain on his opponents to claim fifth place for the Junior boys 1 category.
Emmanuel Bussani was also fifth for the older Junior boys. Gabe Gledhill raced to fourth place finish on his second day and Anna Chatterton had a season’s best finish of fourth for the Juvenile girls. Aiden Noble of Comox and Ben Galik of Royston made the podium in third place for each of their categories. Rounding out a successful day two were Gillian Galik and Gavin Chatterton both back on the podium with Silver medals.
For the relay event, the Junior boys team including Emmanuel Bussani, Stephen Lamon and Gabe Gledhill skied to a Silver Medal missing out on Gold by only 10 seconds.
For the BC Cup Aggregate awards Gillian Galik was 1st for 2008 girls, Gavin Chatterton was second for 2007 boys, Ben Galik was third for 2010 boys and Gabe Gledhill third for 2002 boys. An impressive feat for our small Island Club.
“It is wonderful to watch the athletes reach their goals and see the results of all their hard work and training throughout the season. This is a very difficult sport both mentally and physically and the dedication and drive of these athletes is truly impressive,” said coach Marika Galik.
For more information on the Strathcona Nordics check out their website, www.strathconanordics.com, or find them on Facebook and Instagram.