February 1, 2006 – The slushy snow conditions might have been less than ideal, but Canada’s junior and under-23 cross-country skiing athletes still managed to turn in some stellar performances at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships on Tuesday in Medvode, Slovenia.

Despite a track made unpredictable by overcast skies and warm temperatures, the Canadian squad managed to close out the day with five members of the under-23 team and two juniors finishing in the top-30. The event’s sprint format provided quarterfinal heat opportunities for the top 30 skiers in each category.

Highlighting the day for the Canuck contingent was the performance of Montreal’s Dasha Gaiazova, who finished in fifth place to win top honours in the under-23 B sprint final. In other under-23 women’s results, Chandra Crawford finished 11th overall after posting a sixth-place result of 2:33.75 in her qualifying heat. Perianne Jones, meanwhile, glided to a 16th-place finish in the final.

The course conditions made the under-23 men’s final a slip-sliding affair. Phil Widmer dashed to a 10th-place qualifying result with a time of 2:34.28, and was second in his heat in the final as he crested the crux climb on the course. However, slushy snow conditions caused a fall for the Banff native, and he ultimately finished 17th overall. Graham Nishikawa, a native of Whitehorse, skied into 25th-place overall.

The same fate that befell Widmer awaited youngster Alex Harvey, who was second in his quarterfinal heat in the men’s junior under-20 race and also suffered a fall due to slushy track conditions. However, Harvey finished an impressive 16th overall with a time of 2:28.79.

In other junior men’s qualifying results, Haakon James Lenes came in 29th with 2:32.89; Brent McMurty was 35th with 2:33.99; and Frederic Touchette was 50th with 2:36.83.

On the junior women’s side, Amanda Ammar, of Onoway, Alta., was the top Canadian in 32nd place with a time of 2:29.65; Hannah Perry was 50th with 2:34.38; Kate Brennan was 52nd with 2:34.88; and Brittany Webster was 56th with 2:36.55.

Cross-country skiing action continues tomorrow and Thursday in Medvode with the classic races. Complete results from today’s competition can be found online at www.jwsc2006.com.