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Haywood NorAms draw hundreds to Olympic Park

Whistler Nordics do well in age categories
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Race faces The Haywood NorAms took place at Whistler Olympic Park this past weekend with athletes vying for FIS points, national team spots and spots in the World Junior Championships. photo by scott brammer, www.coastphoto.com.

Whistler Olympic Park has been busy since the 2010 Olympic Games hosting camps and clinics, and lower tier events like B.C. Cup races and qualifiers for cross-country and biathlon.

But since the 2010 Winter Games there haven't been any FIS-sanctioned races at the venue. That changed this past weekend with the Haywood NorAms making a stop at the park, bringing skiers from across North America.

The first event was the Haywood North American Trial Skiathlon event on Friday, where athletes race both classic and skate skis and switch at the halfway point.

The Sea to Sky corridor was represented by the Callaghan Valley Training Centre, with the younger junior-age skiers skiing for the centre, and the senior athletes with the program signing on as the National Athlete Development Centre — Callaghan Valley.

Geoffrey Richards placed fourth in the Junior Men 20km mass start race to lead the CVTC, with Stefan Sander-Green in 12th, Colin Ferrie in 13th, Jeffrey Kerkovius in 14th, Martin Schrama 16th and Jeff Wood 25th out of 50 racers.

The top three were Raphael Couturier of Quebec, Knute Johnsgaard of Whitehorse and Alexis Turgeon of Quebec.

Dahria Beatty and Anne-Marie Comeau of Whitehorse were first and third in Junior Women 10km, with Quebec's Anne-Marie Comeau winning the silver medal.

Raphael Couturier of Quebec was first in the junior men's event, followed by Knute Johnsgaard of Whitehorse and Alexis Turgeon of Quebec.

In the Senior Women 15km race it was Emily Nishikawa of Whitehorse in front, followed by Alysson Marshall of Salmon Arm and Alana Thomas of Ottawa.

In the Senior Men 30km race, Devin Sandau and Brent McMurty of Calgary were first and second, with Graham Nishikawa of Whitehorse and the national team in third. Paralympic champion Brian McKeever was fifth in that race.

The sprint races took place on Saturday. In Junior Women the top three were Janelle Greer of Whitehorse, followed by Emilie Stewart-Jones of Ottawa and Rebecca Reid of Rossland. From the CVTC Adriene Underhill was 21st.

In senior women it was Heidi Widmer of Calgary, followed by Alysson Marshall of Salmon Arm and Marlis Kromm of Calgary.

Geoffery Richards won the Junior Men's sprint, placing first out of 52 racers. Jeff Wood was 14th, Colin Ferrie was 17th, Stefan Sander-Green was 18th, Jeffrey Kerkovious was 23rd and Martin Schrama was 25th.

In senior men it was Philip Widmer of Canmore up front, followed by Graham Nishikawa of Whitehorse and Jesse Cockney of Calgary. Thomsen D'Hont, training in Whistler and competing for the Northwest Territories, was 16th. Colin Abbott of the CVTC was 23rd.

There was a BC Cup race on Saturday for all of the club-level racers.

In Midget Girls, Annika Richardson of Hollyburn was the top racer, followed by Hannah Mehain of Sovereign Lake and Dot Forder of Hollyburn. Kaede Kawano of the Pemberton-based Spud Valley Nordics was 19th, while the Whistler Nordics' Julia Long, Ellie Krasny, Keeley Wentzel and Caitlin MacConnachie were 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th respectively.

In Juvenile Boys, John Connor of Larch Hills was first, followed by Strathcona racers Alec Stapff and Alex Brown.

In Juvenile Girls, Lauren Doak of the Whistler Nordics placed second by just two seconds to Katie Weaver of Hollyburn. Avalon Wasteneys of Stratcona was third.

Also from Whistler, Jenya Nordin placed fifth.

In Junior Boys, Alexis Dumas and Olivier Hamel of Quebec were first and second, with Michael Ravensbergen of Strathcona in third. Birken Metza of the Whitler Nordics was 15th.

In Junior Girls, the Whistler Nordics Nicki Murdoch earned a silver medal, behind Andree-Anne Theberge of Quebec. Hanna Thomson of Revelstoke was third. Hollie Sones of the Whistler Nordics was 10th.

Brent Murdoch of Whistler was fourth, two seconds off the podium, in the Master Men race.

The last event was the Interval Start Classic, which was opened up to clubs as well.

In the men's 15km race — which combined Open Men, Under 23 Men and Junior Men — Brent McMurtry and Kevin Sandau of the Foothills nordic club in Calgary were first and second, with David Greer of Whitehorse in third. Geoffrey Richards was 23rd, Martin Schrama 29th, Colin Ferrie 35th, Jeff Wood 36th, Jeffrey Kerkovius 42nd and Stefan Sander-Green 43rd out of 106 racers. Thomsen D'Hont was 57th.

In the women's 10km classic, Emily Nishikawa was the top racer, followed by Amanda Ammar of Canmore and Zoe Roy of the Rocky Mountain Racers of Calgary. Adriene Underhill was 50th.

In PeeWee Boys, Joe Davies of the Whistler Nordics placed second.

In PeeWee Boys B, Michael Murdoch was second in the category for kids born in 2000. Fraser Doak was fifth in that group and Dian Davidson eighth. Jonathan Rabung-Simeon was second in the 1999 group.

In PeeWee Girls B, Benita Peiffer was third in the 2000 category for Whistler, with teammate Lauren Kilfoy McKay in ninth. Alisa Feuz of Spud Valley was fourth.

In the 2001 group, Mila Wittenberg of the Whistler Nordics was third, with Spud Valley racers Sakura Kawano and Fiona Davies in fourth and seventh.

Whistler's Austin Reith placed first in the Midget Boys by over 40 seconds. Teammate Erik Heilig was ninth and Hunter Sones 14th.

Kaede Kawano was seventh in the 1999 midget group, while Caitlin MacConnachie was eighth.

In Junior Girls, Nicki Murdoch was fourth overall.

In Juvenile Girls, Jenya Nordin was third overall and first in the 1996 group. Lauren Doak was fourth in the 1996 race.

The Canadian Team heading to the Junior and Under 23 World Championships was named following the races. Of the CVTC skiers, Geoffrey Richards will be representing the training centre in Turkey.

Complete results at zone4.ca.