December 09, 2013 (Sovereign Lake, BC) – Braving the cold of -20 degrees in the Sovereign Lake Stadium, the racers layered up and showed tremendous performances with photo finishes in both heats and final races of the classic sprint races.

Men's final at the top of the hill © Julie Melanson

The Open men’s final heat was won by a hair with Patrick Stewart-Jones (Nakkertok) coming in ahead of Philip Widmer of Canmore Nordic. Widmer described Stewart-Jones as the stronger skier of the day “It was just Patrick, he was really strong. Coming up the last hill… Patty pushed harder at the top and took the lead there, held on to it and even increased it to the finish. My hats of to Patrick because he raced really well.”

Men's semifinal (l-r): Graham Nishikawa, Knute Johnsgaard and Philip Widmer. © Julie Melanson

“In the final, I was just trying to get to the end in a good position,” said Stewart-Jones.

The women’s sprint was also a tight race with Andrea Dupont (RMR) finishing just ahead of Allyson Marshall. She explained that she learned a bit in each heat; which tracks were slower due to the accumulation of snow and explained that staying relaxed was the key to the day.

“The last uphill you have to kick on it and the finishing stretch you have to finish strong,” said Dupont.

Women's finish... © Julie Melanson

Marshall described her biggest struggle as staying warm enough between the heats. She did this by jogging. She indicated that she usually tries to charge in the end, but in today’s cold, she just didn’t charge hard enough.

Emily Nishikawa (Whitehorse) warmed up to the cold conditions after a chilly race Saturday and placed third. Nishikawa had described in an interview Saturday that she was looking forward to today’s race because she is feeling strong in classic at the moment.

Full results here.