As the Nationals in Thunder Bay draws near, team Black Jack headed to Kelowna for BC Championships. The 4.5 hour van ride over was uneventful other than the fact Remi and Scott decided to design an extreme waterslide (it includes a mall, a 1.5 hour hike, a 700 meter elevation drop, and the guarantee that you won’t hit your face – although 18 out of 20 people died on the first test run). We arrived at Telemark Ski Club to blue skies and mushy snow (which later turned to ice), but the wax techs were amazing and provided us with really good race skis throughout the weekend.
On Friday, there was a mass start classic race in which we had three BC Champions. Remi dominated his Juvenile Boy category (7km) with an amazing 1:09.8 minute lead, Chiaki won the Junior Girls category (7km) with a 53.5 second lead (a result she has been looking for all season), and Colin won the open men category (15km) ahead of David by 1:20.5 minutes. Sage had her best race of the season so far, finishing fourth in Junior Girls, while Daniel also had a good race, finishing fifth in Junior Boys (10km). Sophie (the newest addition to the Black Jack Race Team) finished 14th in Midget Girls 2 (3.5km). Unfortunately, Michaela and Bronwyn had tough races and had to pull out of their 5km race, while Scott and Julien decided to save themselves for the Canada Winter Games.
The next day was an interval start skate race for the Junior Race Team, while the older boys headed to Prince George for CWG. Sophie bumped up to 9th in Midget Girls 2 (5km), and in Juvenile Girls 2 (7km), Michaela and Bronwyn had another tough race with Michaela in 9th and Bronwyn in 19th. Remi had good result at second in Juvenile Boys (10km), and Daniel got 7th in Junior Boys (10km). In Junior Girls (7km), Sage dropped back to 12th, and Chiaki didn’t race due to the icy conditions. That night, the awards “banquet” was held in Peachland and a few laughs were exchanged while Remi received his first place aggregate award.
Sunday consisted of a fun race where people dressed up for a relay of 3.5km or 5km. Michaela, Chiaki and Sage (the very original team called BlackJack2) landed a 7th place in Junior Women, and Remi, Daniel and Fred won the Open and Masters Men division. Bronwyn was placed on a team with Sophie and a skier from Canmore, and they finished 21st in Junior Women.
Overall, it was a fun weekend with some good races that were very well organized, as usual, by the Telemark Ski Club. Now it’s time for team Black Jack to prep for Nationals here in Rossland, as the Senior Racers return from Canada Winter Games. The team is excited to head to Thunder Bay, and we expect to get some good results at the Canadian National Championships.
Thanks to Dave Wood, Fred Bushell, Mark and Linda Merlo, Tim and Rachel Moore, and Bob McLean for their endless organizing, waxing, coaching and driving. Next, we’ll see what the older boys have to say about PG.
~ Sage
