A triumphant weekend for Black Jack as Norams wrap
By Deanne Steven
It was an exciting weekend of racing as Black Jack held the Haywood Nor Am, Buff Sprints, and Teck Kootenay Cup events. The field included racers from all across North America with Olympians, Olympic hopefuls, World Cup athletes and National Champions in attendance. There were over 250 racers, of which more than 200 were travelling from Alberta, BC, Ontario, Quebec, Yukon, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.
These races were part of Canada’s World Junior and U23 (under 23) team trials, so Heidi Widmer’s result as the top U23 woman both days makes a strong case for her to be on the team. Brother and sister duo Graham and Emily Nishikawa from Whitehorse were the top Canadians in the NorAm Buff sprints on Saturday, and were both on the podium again on Sunday in the Haywood NorAm.
Some of the notable results from local Black Jack athletes at the Teck Kootenay Cup include: Remi Drolet (Midget Boy) 1st in 2.5km free technique and 1st in 3.75 classic, Abbey McLean (Peewee Girl) 1st in classic, Aaron Scott (Master Men) 1st in the 10km classic and 2nd in the 7.5km free technique, and Chiaki Yamamoto from Red Mountain Academies (Junior Girl) 1st in classic.
Full results are available on Zone 4: www.zone4.ca.
Deanne Steven from Tourism Rossland said that “The estimated economic spin off for a race like this is about $450,000 to the local economy, when you take into account accommodation, food and beverage and other local services. These types of events are also an excellent way to showcase the entire community to a group of like minded people”
The organising committee would like to thank the amazing team of Black Jack volunteers for all of their hard work and the entire community for being so welcoming to these elite athletes.
The new 5 km race course was described by the Callaghan Valley Training Center athletes as the toughest in Canada with plenty of exciting descents and challenging climbs. The course improvements which allowed Black Jack to be able to host this event were critical to the success of the event. Black Jack would like to especially thank the Columbia Basin Trust, RDKB Area B, Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust; as well as Major Sponsors Teck Trail Operations, Kootenay Savings Community Foundation, Red Mountain, and MountainFM; and Sponsors Nelson & District Credit Union, Gericks, and Big Red Cats for assisting in making them happen.
Black Jack Cross Country ski club is Rossland’s world class Nordic ski facility whose mission is to build a community of Nordic Skiers by providing and sustaining excellence in programs and services.
