Local Cross Country Ski Dryland Training Camp Attracts Close to 100 Skiers

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Andy Shields (l) Jordan Cascagnette photo credit Martin Kaiser
Andy Shields (l) Jordan Cascagnette photo credit: Martin Kaiser

THUNDER BAY – Sports – Over 100 skiers from across Ontario have been participating in the annual Lake Superior Ski District (LSSD) Cross Country Ski Dryland training Camp over the past 3 days. In its 9th year running, this camp, hosted by the local Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club, has hit the largest amount of participants to date with over half of the athletes from out of town, including one participant from Labrador City, Newfoundland. Athletes have been participating in a variety of activities including rollerskiing at Kamview Nordic Centre, running at Centennial Park, the “oh so popular” paintballing at Paintball Mountain and the camp will finish off with a run to the top of the Sleeping Giant.

One of the many highlights of this years’ camp is the Fresh Air Trail Running series that takes place at Kamview Nordic Centre. This series runs every other Tuesday (schedule can be found at: http://nordictrails-tb.on.ca/) and is hosted by Fresh Air Experience. Registration is only $5 and all trail run proceeds help fund Thunder bay Nordic Trails capital projects. Big Thunder Nordic Ski Team Head Coach, Adam Kates, thought this was the perfect opportunity for the athletes to participate in a great workout and to also show them what a great nordic ski community that Thunder Bay has to offer. Kates, in his 5th year running this camp, hopes that the athletes will come away with the mentality to pursue excellence in everything that they do, “To see so many enthusiastic young athletes out participating at our biggest camp to date is extremely rewarding and provides such a motivating atmosphere for the entire group.” Kates said after a group workout. “I get tremendous amount of personal satisfaction sharing my experiences with these athletes and look forward to our camp continuing to be a major focal point on the Ontario High Performance calendar for many years to come”

The local National Development Centre athletes and coaches have also been on hand at the camp acting as mentors and leaders for the up and coming skiers. In his first year with the team, Head Coach Mark Doble was blown away by the support in Thunder Bay and also by the athletes themselves. Doble commented, “Outreach programs such as these help support the whole program in Ontario. To have such a large group of athletes and coaches engaged in such a positive atmosphere will only build the system in Ontario and I’m so happy to say that I am a part of that”

This camp has showcased the best of what Thunder Bay has to offer in hopes of attracting athletes to achieving their best not only in sport but also in everyday life.
Top results from the 5km (reduced from 7km due to the heat) trail run include:

Men:
1. Andy Shields (NDC-Thunder Bay) 19:21
2. Jordan Cascagnette (NDC-Thunder Bay) 19:28
3. Ben Jones (Lakehead University Nordic Ski Team) 19:39

Ladies:
1. Daphne Haggarty (Lakehead University Nordic Ski Team ) 23:59
2. Emily Marcolini (Sudbury, ON)24:00
3. Alannah MacLean (NDC-Thunder Bay) 25:47

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