March 20, 2016 (Whitehorse, Yukon) – Two veteran squads captured the first titles of the weeklong Haywood Ski Nationals on Saturday in Whitehorse. Canmore residents skiing out of Foothills Nordic Ski Club, Jesse Cockney and three-time Olympian Ivan Babikov won the men’s classic-ski team sprint. Hometown girls, Emily Nishikawa and Kendra Murray, stormed to the top of the women’s podium.

Cockney and Babikov © CCC

Cockney and Babikov, who both posted top-10 finishes in the recent Ski Tour Canada, continued their hot streak to end the season. The Olympians got off to a slow start in the final round, but stormed back to take the gold medal.

“It is awesome to win a gold for Foothills Nordic,” said Cockney. “It didn’t look good at the start. We started with grip wax and then switched to double poling. It was all Babs today. He set me up to make it happen.”

“I just wanted to keep fighting to the end,” said Babikov, who posted back-to-back top-10’s and a 14th place finish to end the Ski Tour Canada. “I kept Jesse in the fighting position, and he came through in the end.”

Yannick Lapierre and Patrick Stewart-Jones from the Nakkertok Club celebrated the silver medal, while Lappe Nordic athletes from Thunder Bay, Ont., Andy Shields and Evan Palmer-Charrette skied to the bronze.

Kendra Murray and Emily Nishikawa © CCC

Meanwhile, two hometown girls from Whitehorse – Emily Nishikawa and Kendra Murray – teamed up to claim top spot in the women’s team sprint.

“It was a super fun race and so awesome to race in front of a home crowd with Emily,” said Murray. “I came into today with the focus of using this as a good race prep for tomorrow. There were tons of people cheering, and it was so nice to have the locals celebrating with us at the finish.”

Nakkertok skiers Alexander Slobodian and Claire Grall-Johnson finished in second place, while Hardwood Hills athletes, Madison Fraser and Isabella Howden, rounded out the women’s podium in third place.

For complete race results, please visit here.