January 07, 2013 (Thunder Bay, ON) – It’s been a busy day of racing for Canadian skiers on both sides of the Atlantic as the World Cup team hopped on the podium in Europe, and the next generation of Canadian skiers looked to make their mark, and bid for selection to the various, upcoming World Championship teams.

Michael Somppi © Pam Doyle file photo

The final day of Haywood NorAm racing took place at Lappe Ski Centre near Thunder Bay and it was a chilly but sunny -13 deg. C. for racing, as the racers hit the trails in the individual skate events.

It was the final opportunity for racers to stake their claim for placement on the Junior and U23 World Championship teams and local club member Michael Somppi set the pace in the men’s 15k with a 25 second victory over Russell Kennedy of Canmore.  For Kennedy, today’s performance should be good for selection to the U23 team on the basis of the top, place eligible finish in a trials event. Third place went to another local skier, Chris Hamilton from Big Thunder a second ahead of Whitehorse’s Graham Nishikawa.

For Lappe skier Somppi it was his first NorAm win.to add to his five podiums, including a 3rd place finish at Lappe in 2012. “I am enjoying the moment right now, I had a lot of desire to have my first NorAm win in Thunder Bay. I was pretty frustrated that I had raced well in the first 2 races but didn’t make the podium. I was really happy I could push through and get the win today.”

In the junior competition, Raphael Couturier picked up his 2nd win of the trials. Couturier of Skibec had made the 2012 World Junior team but had been unable to race due to naturally high haemoglobin levels that exceeded the permitted values at that event.

Colin Ferrie of Kimberley was the race leader for much of the race. Couturier stretched it out on the last lap to win by over 20 seconds ahead of Black Jack’s David Palmer. Zeke Williams of Nakkertok made it 3 trips to the podium in 3 days, with the bronze,  just a second ahead of Team Hardwood’s Scott Hill.

For Raphael it has been a great series of competitions, ” I am really excited about my races here, I’ve done very well. I am also really excited for the World Juniors and hopefully I can get a top 10 which is my main goal for this year.”

Emily Nishikawa © Pam Doyle

The women’s skate race saw Emily Nishikawa of Whitehorse cruise to her 11th NorAm victory in the 10k skate event.  Emily won by a 37 second margin over junior Cendrine Browne of Fondeurs-Laurentides. The win, and her 34th place finish as the top Canadian in the Canmore World Cup skiathlon, confirms Emily is one of Canada’s top distance skiing talents and has a good chance of making the team for the Worlds in Val di Fiemme.

The junior win for Browne should gain her selection to the World Junior championship team, as she adds a gold medal to go with her bronze from Thursday’s skiathlon.

3rd overall was Zoe Roy of Rocky Mountain, followed 4 seconds later by Kanata’s Kate Brennan. Annika Hicks of Canmore was 5th, the top U23 skier and a likely team member for the U23 squad heading to the Worlds in Liberec.

The junior podium was completed by Frederique Vezina of Mont Ste. Anne in 8th and Katherine Stewart-Jones from Nakkertok in 12th overall.

Full Results.