February 11, 2007 (Rossland, BC) – The last day of the Canadian Masters 2007 National Championships, sponsored by the Kootenay Savings Community Foundation, wrapped up yesterday with a bang. 130 competitors took part from all areas of Canada and the United States, and competition was intense and fast-paced throughout the 30km course.

Winner of the men’s race was Olav Stana from Overlander Ski Club with a time of 1:21:47. Phil Villeneuve (x-c.com) placed second overall with a time of 1:23:51. Villeneuve has also been here all week, providing technical expertise for skiers and racers and Paul Tolomiczenko of Fisher/Swix/Brooks came in third with a time of 1:24:10. Once again, the men provided exciting finishes as people sprinted to the line in an effort to come in first before their fellow competitors. Local skier, Jonas Sandstrom (x-c.com) placed 5th and received the male club champion award this year.

Top woman competitor, with a time of 1:27:53, was Brooke Gosling. She placed an impressive 6th overall in the field of both men and women. Gosling skiis for x-c.com who fielded a very strong team at this race, as Shayla Swanson. Gosling’s teammate, was second in 1:31:08. Third place went to Michele Wolfe of Kelowna Nordic with a time of 1:32:10. Laara Banner received female Black Jack Ski Club champion of the year with her 7th place finish.

Once again, 81-year-old Olve Punsvik provided inspiration as he completed his week of racing and finished 1st in his age category.

Please see the full race results posted on Zone 4 by visiting www.skiblackjack.ca and clicking on the Loppet results.

Alex Cook received the Junior Male Black Jack Club Champion for the year, while Sydney Gomez received Junior Female Black Jack Club Champion of the year.

Local businesses donated draw prizes for volunteers and skiers and x-c.com gave away ample amounts of ski paraphernalia as well.

All in all, it was a great week at Black Jack as the snow held off and we had warm temperatures and spring type skiing this week. Old and new friends met and shared stories in the friendly Kootenay atmosphere of Rossland. Dave Rees, Canadian Ski icon, provided us with a very enjoyable talk at the banquet about the evolution of cross country ski paraphernalia. This ironically, had it’s roots in Rossland in 1896 when Olaus Jeldness created a idea for fun and challenged people to ski from the top of Red Mountain into town, with beverage stops along the way.

Once again, we thank our sponsors, Salomon Marathon Cup Series, Kootenay Savings Community Foundation, KBS, x-c.com, Teck Cominco, Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, Red Mountain Resort and Nelson and District Credit Union. We also thank our volunteers who make this race possible.