After a slow start to her season, Benita Peiffer was certainly ready to charge when given the opportunity.
Competing in the sprint heats event at the Western Canadian Championships in Kelowna on Feb. 8, the Whistlerite topped the open women's division, nicking top qualifier Katie Weaver by just 0.08 seconds to earn the victory.
"Sprints are my favourite race to compete in. That's my strong suit," she said. "I didn't really go into it thinking too much about it. Otherwise, I kind of freak myself out.
"But I made sure to go into it making sure I wasn't tiring myself out each heat and making sure I still had some energy."
She credited father Tony for waxing her skis perfectly to ensure she had great speed
"I started with the group and slowly made my way into second and third place," she said. "When we came to the finishing stretch, I pushed extra hard into the downhill, came into second place for the final stretch and finished against Katie Weaver."
Peiffer also performed well in her two other events, anchoring the BC Supernovas relay team en route to an Open Women victory in the 3x5-km event while also taking a fifth-place finish in the open women's 10-km contest.
The relay, Peiffer explained, was one of the most enjoyable races she had all season. Paige Latta and Elizabeth Elliott helped the Supernovas into second place heading into Peiffer's turn. Peiffer then put up the second-best lap overall—and the best among anchors—to lift the trio to victory.
"I just had the most fun with it. There was not much pressure when they're some of your best friends that you're racing with. You're skiing together and hope you get a good result," she said. "I just wanted to get out there and ski my hardest. My team came in strong in second place. I passed the girl who was in first place and got a good lead out of it."
Peiffer explained that some early-season health issues, which left her feeling run down with little energy were compounded by misdiagnoses, and this added to her frustratingly delayed start to the season. Her training for the World Junior Championships trials was affected and she was not selected as a starter for the province's Canada Winter Games team, though she did qualify as an alternate. However, now feeling healthy and strong, Peiffer is eager to finish the season with some local races, a B.C. Cup event in Salmon Arm and then the nationals in Ottawa. She will then hope to qualify for the North American and Canadian Biathlon Championships here in Whistler at the end of March.
"I got it all figured out and I trained hard through winter break. I've been having some strong results recently," she said.
Fellow Whistlerite Michael Murdoch also took home hardware, helping the BC Power, Speed and Grace squad to a third-place finish in the open men's category.
"The team was a couple of my buddies I'd been racing with all through my ski career," he said. "We started off pretty good, but our first teammate fell in the first leg, so we were catching up to the front guys to put us in a better spot.
"I was second leg, so I caught up to No. 2, and our third guy finished it off. That's against some of the fastest skiers in Canada."
Murdoch enjoyed the chance to hunt down some of the skiers ahead of him during the relay.
"I like chasing people instead of getting chased. It puts a little less stress on you," he said. "Just having that guy in front of me is always a little treat for me to try to chase and catch."
He was also fourth in the junior men's sprints and seventh in the open men 15-km mass start, in which he was tripped, costing him a higher placement.
The weekend was a frigid one in the Interior, which is challenging at the best of times, and even tougher when there are only thin layer of Spandex protecting racers from the elements.
"Making sure your fingers and toes stay warm is actually really crucial to having a good result because if you start getting cold ... you're pretty much just going to stop racing from there," he said.
It's been an exciting season for Murdoch, who went to compete in Europe for the first time this season, racing in Switzerland and France.
"It's definitely a new environment for me and an environment I could get used to," he said. "All the guys are super competitive and it's fun being right in the mix."
Other Whistlerites in action included: Joe Davies (eighth in the junior men's sprint, fourth in the junior boys' mass start and third in the junior boys relay); Marlie Molinaro (ninth in the juvenile girls' sprint and mass start, and third in the juvenile girls' relay); and Mila Wittenberg (34th in the open women mass start and fourth in the junior girls relay).
Payak coming this weekend
Closer to home, the annual P'ayakentsut race will return to Whistler Olympic Park this Sunday, Feb. 24.
However, it returns with a new title sponsor and will now be known as the Coast Outdoors P'ayak.
Race director Sherryl Yeager said with a hearty crew of 80 volunteers, they are ready for a busy weekend. As of Feb. 17, registration was outpacing 2018's record registration of over 650 participants, including ballooning numbers in the 50-km field.
"Everything is coming along really smoothly," Yeager said. "If it keeps on this trend, then we'll have a record year."
With plenty of show at the park, Yeager is hoping for the perfect balance of cold without being teeth-chattering.
"We've got tons of snow. We've got fresh snow at the venue," she said. "I'm really hoping this high-pressure system holds on and we'll have nice clear and cold conditions for race morning."
Registration continues until Wednesday, Feb. 20.
For more information, visit www.payak.ca.
