March 22, 2014 (Corner Brook, Newfoundland) – Saturday was the final day of racing at the 2014 Haywood Ski Nationals, the long distance, mass start classic races. The organization had been excellent, the weather a variety and the hospitality great.  The organizers had been hampered overnight by a significant engine issue in their main snow machine, but the trails were ready to race on, in time for the event start.

Ivan Babikov crosses the line. © CCC

Ivan Babikov added another Nationals gold medal to his collection with a dominant victory, by 41.5 seconds over his Foothills team-mate Kevin Sandau. Graham Nishikawa of Whitehorse was 3rd just 3 seconds later, followed closely by Andy Shields of Lappe.  A group of 11 racers had skied together for much of the race until on the final lap Ivan decided to put the hammer down and ski to victory.

Men's podium © CCC

Ivan Babikov ‏

Feels awesome finishing this season with a W at 50km classic race at #CanadianNationals#NowICanRest…

In the Sr. Women’s race Canmore`s Amanda Ammar also had a dominant win by a 54.5 second margin over Emily Nishikawa of Whitehorse. Almost 4 minutes later 3rd place went to Japan`s Chisa Obayashi, with Highland Trailblazer Brittany Webster picking up the bronze medal in 4th.

Amanda had skied with Emily until the last lap and then like Ivan Babikov in the race before had powered away over the last 5k.

Senior women's podium © CCC

Dahria Beatty won the Jr Women’s 20k race by a comfortable 16-second margin over Nakkertok`s Katherine Stewart-Jones in a similar way to the other winners. The two skiers had been together with Daria`s team-mate Whitehorse skier Anna Hanthorn until the final lap when the lead group broke apart.

Ivan Babikov (l) Rolf Petterson trophy winner, and Amanda Ammar, Mary Anderson trophy winner. © CCC

The men’s 30k deviated from the script with a group of  4 or 5 dwindling down after the first lap to Lappe`s Evan Palmer-Charette and Team Hardwood’s Scott Hill after the halfway mark. From there Hill powered his way to win by almost a 2 minute margin. Ben Wilkinson-Zan of Nakkertok came 3rd.

The Juvenile Boys race was a much closer affair with Antoine Laforte capturing gold, 5 seconds ahead of Whitehorse`s Simon Cash, with Étienne Hébert of Montériski claiming bronze, just .5 seconds later.

Klister and his New found land friend Blowey. © CCC

In the Junior Boys race Caelan McLean gradually skied away from the rest of the field to win by over 20 seconds over Joey Foster of Team Hardwood. Foster and Gabriel Price of Bulkley Valley had battled back and forth all day, with Foster managing to gain the edge on the final lap to beat out Price for the silver at the finish.

In the Junior Girls competition, there was a tight battle between Norwegian skier Ingrid Elisabeth Tveten and Nakkertok’s Zoë Williams. Tveten won the race by a little over a second, with Williams taking the Canadian champion title. a bit farther back was Kathleen Woods of Bulkley Valley and Avalon Wasteneys of Strathcona Nordic in the silver and bronze medal positions. With 2 medals today it is nice to see a resurgence in the fortunes of Bulkley Valley that was a skiing, powerhouse club in the late 80’s and 90’s.

The final race of the day saw Molly Miller of Kimberley outlasting Hannah Deuling of Whitehorse and Heidi Ohrling of Highland Trailblazers in a close competition.

The athletes finished off the day with a banquet after a great week of racing in Atlantic Canada. Check back later for the Aggregate Championship results and further information on the trophies awarded for the week’s performances.

Complete Results
Lap Results