Nipissing Nordic returns from Italy

With the Nipissing Lakers Nordic Ski team back on Canadian soil after competing in the University Winter Games in Italy, the long trip home and some time off gave them a chance to look back and reflect on the games.

Head coach Toivo Koivukoski and skiers Jordan Cascagnette, Thomsen D’Hont and Kajsa Heyes all took part in the event, which brought together some of the best athletes in the world.

Koivukoski said just being part of the University Games was something special, and being able to represent Canada is something he won’t forget.

“It was an honour to help represent Team Canada at the Games as assistant coach, to work with the finest varsity skiers in the country, and to get experience in international race support,” he explained.

Heyes echoed her coach’s comments, noting that being a part of Team Canada is one of her career highlights so far.

“It was an amazing experience. I was so grateful to be able to race with such an exceptional group of athletes from Canada and also to be able to race at an incredibly high level of competition internationally,” she said.

There is no question it was a great experience for all the athletes, but it wasn’t all fun and games – they were there to win and to represent themselves, their country and their school. One of the things Koivukoski noted was how challenging the courses were and the differences between the European races and North American races.

“The coaching and race support team was overall happy with the skis we put out. The conditions were challenging towards the end of the Games, as we were sharing the race venue with Biathalon and Nordic Combined, and at one point had 1.5 hours to test wax and prepare skis before a race, which is definitely tight,” he said. “But the team stayed calm as the situation got real, and we pulled it together for some respectable results."

Both Heyes and D’Hont were battling injuries and illness at the games, so they may not have been 100 per cent, but as Heyes noted, the effort was there.
“I had and am still dealing with some medical issues/injuries and did not come into the games feeling primed and ready, but I worked hard at staying positive and doing everything that I could, and I was very happy to pull off some decent racing,” she said.

Looking ahead, the Nordic season will really kick into high gear as the coaches and athletes prepare for the OUA championships, which are being hosted by Nipissing University.

Koivukoski said the team will be working hard preparing for the February championship and the athletes will be as busy as ever the next month attending difference races and different events across the country.

“The team is into a block of volume training at home, with three Nipissing Nordic athletes racing out west at the World Junior, U23 and Olympic Trials in Canmore. After some touch up races in January, we will be sending the team to the Eastern Canadian Championships in Quebec, with some athletes making the trip to Thunder Bay for Ontario Cup #3 of the season,” the coach explained.

While some athletes will be focusing on certain aspects of their racing, D’Hont said he’s just planning on getting healthy so he can be at 100 per cent.
"My main focus is to be healthy. I have a few long-term injuries that I have been struggling with. If I can be healthy, I know I can race fast,” he said.
Heyes said the trip to Italy was great, but now she’s only focused on what’s ahead of her, and even before she can get too excited about the OUA championships, she has some other business to take care of.

“To be totally honest, OUA champs are in the very back of my mind. We have very important races coming up this weekend, with Olympic trials (skate sprint), and under-23 World Champs trials January 9 to 12 in Canmore. I'm solely focused on those races and will probably start thinking about OUA's after Eastern National Championships on Jan. 31 to Feb. 2,” she explained. “I've never competed in OUAs, so I don't know what to expect, but I've heard that they are super fun and I'm very excited for them to be in North Bay. I hope the university and town can rally around our team and get lots of spectators and cheerers out there.”

Volunteers Needed

Nipissing Nordic will bemaking a call for volunteers for the OUA Championships, so make space on your calendars for February 21 to 23, either helping out or bringing more cowbell to take part in some exciting ski racing on campus, downtown North Bay, and out at the North Bay Nordic Ski Club.Ontario Cup
Busy is an understatement when it comes to the Nipissing Lakers Nordic Skiing team.

With members scattered all over the country participating in different races and trials, the team is making a name for themselves from Ontario to Alberta and everywhere in between.

The team recently sent two skiers to the first Ontario Cup race, held by the Highlands Nordic club located in Duntroon, Ontario, just south of Collingwood and west of Barrie.

The skiers, Jess Demers and Shelby Dickey had some challenges to deal with, but that didn’t stop them from finding the podium.

The top-seeded Nipissing Nordic athletes would finish 1st and 3rd in the freestyle prologue, 2nd and 5th in the classic race, and 4th and 8th in the mass start freestyle.

Laker head coach Toivo Koivukoski was impressed with the results and thrilled the pair found their way on to the podium.

“I was impressed with the gains our returning athletes have made over the dryland season at these first Ontario Cup races, and the promise shown by our new recruits,” he said. “It was of course a charge for the team to put athletes on the podium, with gains made by Jess in her skate technique, and good spirited competition between teammates Jess and Shelby that will push them both to ski faster.”

Demers said she had to adapt and make some adjustments because of the conditions and the fact that she hasn’t had as much time preparing as she would have liked, but the results speak for themselves, and she’s happy with how things went.

"The O-Cup #1 came along much faster than expected which caused a lot of us to not feel 100 per cent ready, certainly because we didn't get to ski much on race skis before the race and conditions were a little different down south than we were having here up north,” she explained of what the team had to deal with. “It turned out really good and I think North Bay/Nipissing represented very good."

Dickey noted there was no time to relax on the course, and it wasn’t like they could save up some energy for a late push or anything like that due to the fact that each skier had to focus on staying vertical as much as possible.

“The weekend was definitely tough conditions-wise. Just staying on your feet for the entire race meant hero status at the end. The gold medalists this weekend were athletes who knew how to stay smart on the course. Ontario also has one of the best support systems of athletes that I have ever seen and it is always a privilege to be a part of,” she said. “My category in particular is extremely tight; girls dancing and cheering for each other in the start gate, chipping ice chunks out of each other’s boots at the start and crossing the finish line into a cascade of congratulatory hugs. The weekend was definitely a testament to the best strategized athletes and it was fantastic to race with a group of such talented, hard-working and just overall awesome females.”