March 6, 2003 (Duntroon, Ontario) – The top three women finished within three seconds of each other in the 15 km classic, the second race of the Duntroon National Cross Country Ski Championships.
Montreal's Daria Gaiazova, who finished 16th at 2003 Junior Worlds, grabbed the gold with a time of 50:51.2, only .3 seconds over Lappe Nordic's Tasha Betcherman who just returned from the Nordic Worlds in Italy. The bronze went to Caledonia Nordic's Jacquelyn Benson, from Prince George, B.C, in a time of 50:54.9.
In the Junior Girls category, Edmonton's Amanda Ammar took the lead by less than three seconds to finish the 7.5 km event in 26:22.1. Ammar, who settled for silver in Tuesday's 10 km freestyle race (March 4), also participated in the Junior National Development Tour in Europe this past January. Second went to the winner of Tuesday's race, Viktoria Koskenoja of Soo Finnish, with a time of 26:24.5. The bronze went to Perianne Jones of Nakkertok Ski Team in 26:50.1. Jones is a member of the Junior National Ski Team and participated at the World Juniors in Sweden with Gaiazova this past February.