January 12, 2012 (Callaghan Valley, BC) – The 2012 Haywood NorAm and World Junior/U23 Trials kicked off at Whistler Olympic Park in Callaghan Valley, BC, on Friday with the mass start Skiathlon events.

In the Open Women’s 15km race, a group of four women that included U23 skier (AWCA/Whitehorse), Alysson Marshall (AWCA/Larch Hills), Alana Thomas (Nakkertok) and Zoe Roy (Rocky Mountain Racers) broke away from the main pack on the second lap.

The four skied together the remainder of the race and sprinted to the finish, with Emily Nishikawa coming out on top, followed by Marshall and Thomas. Annika Hicks (AWCA/ Canmore Nordic) and Marlis Kromm (Foothills Nordic) placed second and third, respectively, among the U23 women.

In the Open Men’s 30km Skiathlon, a lead group including Brent McMurtry (CNEPH/Foothills), Graham Nishikawa (AWCA/Whitehorse), Kevin Sandau (AWCA/Fooothills) and Graeme Killick (AWCA/Banff Ski Runners) swapped leads throughout the 8-lap race, with Sandau and McMurty finally pulling away in the last lap and battling to the line.

Sandau took the win crossing the line first, a mere half second ahead of McMurtry with Nishikawa claiming third. Killick finished fourth overall and as the top U23. David Greer (CNEPH/Whotehorse) and Jesse Cockney (AWCA/Foothills)  were the second and third U23s to cross the line and were sixth and eighth overall, respectively.

In the Junior Women’s 10km Skiathlon, Whitehorse Nordic’s Dahria Beatty came in first, followed by Anne-Marie Comeau (MSA) and Janelle Greer (Whitehorse).

Skibec’s Raphael Couturier won the Junior Men’s 20km event, followed by Whitehorse Nordic’s Knute Johnsgaard and Alexis Turgeon of Skinouk in third. Couturier dominated with almost a 30-second lead over Johnsgaard. Alex Mahoney from Rocky Mountain Racers, who had been in the top three, took a wrong turn in the stadium and was disqualified in a jury decision leaving the door open for Turgeon.

Full results HERE.