January 17, 2015 (Canmore, AB) – A total of eight hours of sprint racing was scheduled for the Haywood Western Canadian Championships sprints, sponsored by Buff and held on Saturday at the Canmore Nordic Centre. The racing started with the sprint qualifiers at 9 am.

Perianne Jones of Nakkertok was the top qualifier, followed closely by Heidi Widmer of Foothills Nordic and Andrea Dupont of Rocky Mountain Racers. Annah Hanthorn of Whitehorse was the fastest junior qualifier.

Somppi wins men's final © CCC

For the men it was Lappe Nordic leading the way as Andy Shields was 3/100ths ahead of his team-mate Michael Somppi. It was tight at the top as Julien Locke of Black Jack came 3rd, another 3/10ths back and 2/10ths later was Alexis Turgeon of Skinouk. The top junior qualifier was Aidan Millar of Canmore Nordic in 15th overall.

The Junior Men’s knockout heats saw Millar continue his strong performance from the qualifier, winning his quarter-final and semi-final heats, to advance to the “A” final. The winner was never really in doubt as the crowd cheered home the local favourite, to a 2.5-second win over his teammates Eric Byram and Tate MacDonald of Edmonton Nordic.

Aidan Millar © CCC

The Senior Men’s races saw close competition as Knute Johnsgaard of Whitehorse won the first semifinal and Julien Locke narrowly edged out Michael Somppi in the second.

It’s been almost two years since Somppi last won a NorAm. He has raced 19 times with three second-place results, two wins (in the 15k free) and 14 third-place finishes. After his 3rd place result on Jan. 8 in the men’s Skiathlon as the Eastern Championships he exclaimed, “I really have to string some wins together…” and today was the day.

Andrea Dupont © CCC

Somppi won the race by 1.5 seconds ahead of a hard-charging chase group. Second went to Julien Locke and 3rd in a photo-finish was Knute Johnsgaard.

In the women’s quarter-finals Jones, the top qualifier, was disqualified for false starting. Sarah Beaudry of Caledonia Nordic had the fastest quarter-final, and won a semi-final along with Dupont. In the final it was Dupont that grabbed the win, ahead of Widmer and Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt of Fondeur Laurentide.

Sr. men's podium © CCC

Annah Hanthorn won the Jr. Women’s final ahead of Ember Large of Rocky Mountain Racers and Emily McIlroy of Camrose. The racing wraps up Sunday at the Canmore Nordic Centre with mass start, skate distance races.

Complete qualifying results

Sprint bracket results