The Strathcona Nordic ski team recently travelled all the way to Prince George to compete in the BC Championships.
This was the third and final of the Teck BC Cup series and involved three days of racing. The first two days were individual distance races and the weekend was finished off with team relays.
The Strathcona athletes continued with strong performances. They had five athletes on the podium for the mass start classic race on day 1. Amelia Moore won their sole gold medal of the day in the U12 girls category. Ben and Gillian Galik both finished with silver medals in the U12 and U14 categories respectively. Carly Ram U16 and Anna Chatterton U18 both finished strong races in the bronze medal position.
The second day of racing was an interval start race using free technique. In an interval start, the athletes are racing against the clock and need to have mental toughness and focus. Strathcona finished the day with 7 medals. Amelia Moore and Ben Galik both continued to show their dominance for the U12 girls and boys categories, finishing on the top of the podium. Carly Ram also had a commanding race winning a gold medal for the U16 girls. Siblings Anna and Gavin Chatterton, both skied to silver medals. In the bronze medal position were Jakob Kainz U18 and Gillian Galik U14.
The last races of the weekend were the team relays. Each team had three racers. In the U14 girls category “Tal tal and the gals” (Talia McPhail-McGrady, Amelia Moore and Gillian Galik) skied a very close and exciting race to finish with the silver medal. In the U14 boys race “The Wacky Waldos” (Ben Galik, Jaycee Harmatiuk and Gray Tunnah) finished in 14th. “Mads Ann-A Car Car” (Maddie Galik, Anna Chatterton and Carly Ram) finished just off the podium in 4th for the U20 girls. The fourth team “The Chatterbox boys” (Rory Bratrud, Gavin Chatterton and Jakob Kainz) finished in 8th place in the U20 male category.
The Teck BC Cup Aggregate awards were also given out over the weekend. The awards are based on the top 4 performances of each athlete (of six possible races) from the Teck BC Cup series. The awards are given for each year of birth. Strathcona might be one of the small clubs in BC, but they are mighty. They came home with an impressive 7 aggregate awards. 1st place: Amelia Moore U12, Ben Galik U12, Gillian Galik U14 and Anna Chatterton U18. 2nd place: Carly Ram U16 and Ella Moore U10. 3rd place Gavin Chatterton.
“I had such a fun time this weekend racing with amazing athletes from all over BC. I am so pumped to race at Nationals next week and compete with skiers from all over the country!” remarked Carly Ram who finished the weekend with a gold and bronze medal as well as the second place aggregate.
The team travels to Whistler to compete in the National Championships from March 20-27th.