Despite inclement weather and bus cancellations delaying the start of the Huntsville High School Nordic season by over a month, the team was finally able to get back on course last Thursday, February 9, with their first official competition of the season. The HHS contingent sent 34 student athletes to the annual Mayfield Invitational held at Duntroon Highlands Nordic Center east of Collingwood.
Fiona Shearing finished on the podium with a bronze medal, contributing to the HHS junior girl’s team score of third. Owen Johnstone finished second in the junior boys division, just ahead of Riley de Gans who came fourth to lead the team to an impressive second overall. In the senior categories, Marina Tusz and Leif Bertelsen both finished in the top 10 in their respective girls and boys divisions, with the senior girls team placing second while the senior boys finished in first.
The event was a large one with many student athletes eager to get racing after having over a month off between the weather cancellations and exam break. The Huntsville team had been training at the Arrowhead Provincial Park in preparation for the long-delayed start of the season.
The team also debuted a new competition uniform at Duntroon, representing the first change to the HHS Nordic racing outfit in the past 16 years. The previous iconic ski race suit, proudly worn at dozens of local, regional and provincial championships since the early 2000s, has been officially retired in favour of the new jersey designed and manufactured by Borah Teamwear.
The HHS team will now look ahead to the Georgian Bay Secondary School Athletics (GBSSA) Nordic Championships, which will take place this Thursday, February 16 at Duntroon. Teams will be required to ski a distance event in the morning with the top four racers from each school counting towards the team score. In the afternoon, a four-person relay team sprint will take place, with the morning distance event plus the afternoon four person relay team sprint placings being used to determine which teams qualify for provincials.
On Sunday, February 26, the teams and individuals that qualify from GBSSA will be travelling to Timmins to take part in the Ontario Federation School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) Nordic Championships. The three-day event is similar format as to GBSSA, but is spread over two days with distance on the first day followed by team sprint relays on the second.
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