The Athabasca Nordic Ski Club added to their hardware collection, bringing home medals despite stiff competition at the 2018 Western Canadian Championships.
The Jan. 19-21 event in Red Deer featured high-level skiers from across the country, head coach Henrik Asfeldt said. He added that despite the challenging field with hundreds of skiers, the Athabasca team fared well.
“There’s always some that surprise you and do a little better than you might think and some that are maybe disappointed by the results,” he said. “But overall, it was quite good.”
Asfeldt said the club ended up with podium finishes in the Pee Wee boys relay Jan. 21, as club member Jackson Jardine was part of the gold-medal team, Isaac Allen was on the silver medal squad and William Allen was on the unofficial third-place team.
The Pee Wee boys relay only featured those three teams, but nevertheless, Asfeldt said the podium finishes meant a lot to those younger skiers.
“They’re quite young. They get on the podium and they get a medal and the context doesn’t mean that much,” Asfeldt said. “That’s awesome and a good time.”
Another high-ranking finish came from 11-year old Keira Jardine in the Mini-Midget girls sprints, where she battled her way to the final four-person heat from a field of 24. She came up just short of the podium with a fourth-place finish, according to the official results table.
Jardine said in an interview she had nerves during the sprint races, but she was happy with her performance.
“It was just cool knowing I was racing against the fastest girls in my age group,” Jardine said. “My expectations were super high. I always try to set a goal for myself – Top 10 and top half – so I think fourth was really good.”
Asfeldt also highlighted club member Jazmyn Maheden’s performance in the Midget girls sprints, where she finished 10th in a field of 33 skiers.
“She battled through quarter-finals and semifinals, made it to the B-final,” Asfeldt said. “Really showed she was quite the competitor. I think that was a really outstanding result for her.”
The Western Canadian Championships were the last major competitive event for the club before the Alberta Winter Games start Feb. 16.
Asfeldt said that overall, the Western Canadian Championships were quality learning experience for his club going into the competition at the Alberta Winter Games, set for Feb. 16-19 in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
“They had a great time and skied really hard. I think it was a learning experience as well,” Asfeldt said.
