December 12, 2016 (Vernon, BC) – It was a wintry day, -10 deg. C., with light falling snow, as the racers competed in Race Day 2 at Sovereign Lake as part of the Haywood NorAm series, and the U.S. SuperTour.

Sunday’s races were interval start, skate races, and the depth of the U.S. program really added to the quality of racing for the Canadian event. The concept of some interlocking schedules for the national series of Canada and the U.S. seems to be an idea worth repeating.

For the women’s 10k APU’s Chelsea Holmes came away with the win, 36 seconds ahead of Erika Flowers of SMS, who was followed four seconds later by Caitlin Gregg of Team Gregg in 3rd.

The top Canadian was again Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt of Fondeurs Laurentides in 13th, followed by Katherine Stewart-Jones in 15th and Andrea Dupont of Rocky Mountain Racers 32nd.

The U.S. dominated the podium in the senior races as Scott Patterson gave APU another win in the men’s 15k skate event, powered by a blazing fast opening lap. He finished 13 seconds ahead of Matt Gelso of Sun Valley. 3rd was Tad Elliott of Vail, another 13 seconds later.

The top Canadian was Canmore Nordic’s Russell Kennedy in 9th, with Skibec’s Alexi Dumas in 15th and Patrick Stewart-Jones in 21st.

For the Juniors, U.S. sensation Katharine Ogden of SMS won the race in a time that would have placed her 2nd in Open Women, 13 seconds from the lead. Hollyburn’s Annika Richardson was the top Canadian in 2nd at 2:20 behind Ogden. Hannah Halvorsen of Sugar Bowl was 3rd just behind Richardson and 4th and 5th, 2nd and 3rd Canadians, were Hannah Mehain of the local Sovereign Lake club and India McIssac of Rocky Mountain Racers.

Phillippe Boucher of Skibec was the top Junior Man, in a time that made him the 3rd fastest Canadian in the open class. Canmore’s Ty Godfrey was 46 seconds back, followed by Telemark’s Gareth Williams 8 seconds later.

As always it was a well-run event at Sovereign Lake and the snow conditions would be the envy of most Nordic sites around the world.

The next Haywood NorAm and Buff sprint events, take place in Rossland, B.C. Black Jack ski club will be hosting a mini-tour event, beginning Dec. 16 – race notice here.

Full results here.