January 15, 2016 (Thunder Bay, ON) – The Haywood NorAm races at Lappe Nordic got underway on Jan 14, with skate sprints presented by Buff. The races also serve as selection races for the World Junior and U23 Championships, and a Junior B tour.

Mother Nature has had her influence on the schedule as the races were delayed due to cold and started later in the morning after warming up to a balmy -17 deg. C. Saturday’s races have now been moved to a relatively warm Friday, in hopes of getting the events completed before a deep freeze settles in again for the weekend. Sunday has a scheduled high of -18, so there is a chance of still more race shuffling, with Saturday forecasting a warmer high of -16. Recent official changes here. Check the race website for updates, and remember:

The morning qualifiers saw Andrea Dupont of Rocky Mountain Racers lead the way in the Sr. Women’s results, her 36th NorAm sprint, since her first in 2007 at Mont Ste. Anne. Local skier Sadie White from Big Thunder was the top Jr. Woman, 4th fastest overall.

The men’s qualifying wins were quite decisive with Angus Foster also of Big Thunder winning the Sr. Men’s qualifier by almost 5 seconds over Skinouk’s Simon Lapointe. Kevin Sandau of Foothills, who has dominated the circuit this season, had an equipment issue near the end of the qualifier and scootered across the finish line in 29th place, almost missing the heats.

In the Junior race, Team Hardwood racer Joey Foster (no relation to Angus) was the top qualifier, again by almost a 5 second margin. Joey is the son of Angela Schmidt and Don Foster. Angela was the first Canadian female to win a World Cup medal and a 4-time Canadian Olympian.

Qualification results here.

Sadie White was about two seconds ahead of Mont Ste. Anne’s Marie Corriveau in qualifying, but in the final the tables were turned and it was Corriveau who prevailed by a similar margin for the win. That result should unofficially qualify her for the Junior Worlds team.

The Sr. Women’s race was a close contest as Dupont claimed her 5th NorAm sprint title by 2/10ths of a second over Jenn Jackson of Team Hardwood. A close 3rd was Skinouk’s Sophie Carrier-Laforte of Skinouk.  Jackson’s result should assure her of a spot at the U23 World Championships.

Jenn Jackson Audio Interview with Lisa Patterson, CCC

Today’s win should move Dupont into the lead position in the Buff sprint series standings.

Joey Foster was the Jr. Men’s champ after some close heats and a close final win by .5 seconds over Eric Byram of Canmore. This result should qualify Foster for a place on the World Junior Team. 3rd place went to Will Dumas of Skinouk.

Audio Interview with Joey Foster, by Lisa Patterson, CCC

Julien Locke of Black Jack had a recent bronze medal in the same event at the 2016 U.S. Nationals and came from being the 5th qualifier to a dominant 3-second win in the Sr. Men’s final. Locke should confirm a position on the U23 World Championship team with his victory. Second was Patrick Stewart-Jones of Nakkertok and 3rd was local skier Foster.

Shortly after the races were completed, local media tbnewswatch.com had posted a picture and article about the races with the headline: NDC-Thunder Bay’s Jenn Jackson Earns berth on Canada’s U-23 Women’s Cross-country Team – read more here.

Sprint bracket results here.
Official results here.

Keep track of the action during tomorrow’s races on the Lappe Live Audio Feed

Live timing at Zone4.ca races starts at 11 am.

In other news CCC’s Development skiers have left Italy after a stay in Toblach and are heading to Planica, Slovenia to prepare for this weekend’s World Cups.