The Ontario University Athletics Championships (or OUAs) are the biggest university races of the year for varsity athletes in Ontario. This year, the three races were held in Haliburton, a small town about 300km outside of Ottawa.
After arriving Friday afternoon to check out the race course and test our skis, we cut to the chase and started racing early Saturday morning. The first race was an individual skate race, with the guys doing 10km, and the girls doing 5km. The race went well by all counts, as XC Ottawa members took three of the six possible medals. On the women's side, Adele Lay took the gold by 5s. Only 11s behind Adele was Zoe Braul, who took the bronze medal. On the men's side, Colin Abbott took the silver for XC Ottawa after finishing 22s off the leader. Matthias Purdon also put in a good race, finishing 25s out of a medal in sixth place.
After cooling down, napping, drinking chocolate milk and eating a whole lot of food, we were back out there for the second race of the day. The second race was a freestyle relay, with the best skiers from each school racing against each other. All four members of XC Ottawa who were on the trip made it to the "A" team for the relay. The men raced five kilometers each, and the women did two and a half kilometers each. While it was a hard-fought battle, both the men's and the women's teams had to settle for silver, as Lakehead University powered to victories.
The final day of OUA's was a 10km race for the women, and a 15km race for the men. XC Ottawa skiers had another strong showing. Zoe Braul won the silver medal and Adele Lay, despite a seized-up back, pulled through to finish in seventh position. The men also had a good day as Colin Abbott captured the gold medal in a sprint finish with Lakehead's Chris Hamilton. Matthias Purdon upped his previous day's result to finish fourth, again only 25s from the podium.
In all, it was a great weekend of racing, with not only the Carleton skiers doing well but the Coach, John Langstone, winning the OUA Nordic coach of the Year award.
Below are some pictures from the races (complements of Greg).
Colin Abott finishing the classic race, en route to the victory!
5km Women's Podium (L - R): Britt Bailey (Lakehead), Adele Lay and Zoe Braul (Carleton, XC Ottawa).
Carleton Men's Silver Medal Relay Team (L - R): Matthias Purdon, Colin Abbott and Chris Mamen.
OUA Nordic Skiing Championship Results
COACH OF THE YEAR - John Langstone (Carleton)MEN'S ALL-STARS
Chris Hamilton (Lakehead)
Colin Abbott (Carleton)
Scott Sullivan (Lakehead)
Matthias Purdon (Carleton)
Christian Mamen (Carleton)
Mark Doble (Lakehead)
Ian Richie (Guelph)
Rob Martin (Lakehead)
Aaron Barter (Toronto)
Jacob Porter (Lakehead)
WOMEN'S ALL-STARS
Britt Bailey (Lakehead)
Zoe Braul (Carleton)
Linnaea Kershaw (Lakehead)
Hillary Schrama (Lakehead)
Julie McVicar (Queen's)
Nellie Dow (Waterloo)
Adele Lay (Carleton)
Katherine Hall (Lakehead)
Amanda Holdsworth (Lakehead)
Julie Porter (Laurentian)
MEN'S 10km FREESTYLE
1. Chris Hamilton (Lakehead) 0:24:07.1
2. Colin Abbott (Carleton) 0:24:29.3
3. Mark Doble (Lakehead) 0:25:03.2
4. Scott Sullivan (Lakehead) 0:25:14.3
5. Ian Ritchie (Guelph) 0:25:24.3
6. Matthias Purdon (Carleton) 0:25:28.1
7. Christen Mamen (Carleton) 0:25:33.4
8. Aaron Barter (Toronto) 0:25:36.7
9. Jacob Porter (Lakehead) 0:25:56.2
10. Lachlan Armstrong (Lakehead) 0:25:56.4
WOMEN'S 5km FREESTYLE
1. Adele Lay (Carleton) 0:14:27.5
2. Britt Bailey (Lakehead) 0:14:32.6
3. Zoe Braul (Carleton) 0:14:38.9
4. Hilary Schrama (Lakehead) 0:14:44.3
5. Linnaea Kershaw (Lakehead) 0:14:58.3
6. Julie McVicar (Queen's) 0:14:58.9
7. Julie Porter (Laurentian) 0:15:07.6
8. Katherine Hall (Lakehead) 0:15:13.3
9. Amanda Holdsworth (Lakehead) 0:15:15.6
10. Vesta Mather (Guelph) 0:15:17.0
MEN'S TEAM RELAY 15km FREESTYLE
1. Lakehead A 0:42:43.8
2. Carleton A 0:43:13.9
3. Lakehead B 0:43:57.6
4. Guelph A 0:44:54.3
5. Laurentian A 0:45:53.0
6. Waterloo 0:45:54.4
7. Carleton B 0:46:24.4
8. Toronto A 0:47:27.1
9. Guelph B 0:47:33.0
10. Laurentian B 0:49:19.4
11. Queen's 0:51:09.5
12. Toronto B 0:53:35.7
WOMEN'S TEAM RELAY 7.5km FREESTYLE
1. Lakehead A 0:25:08.5
2. Carleton A 0:25:26.1
3. Lakehead B 0:25:40.9
4. Laurentian 0:26:10.9
5. Guelph A 0:26:29.1
6. Waterloo 0:28:16.9
7. Queen's 0:28:19.5
8. Toronto A 0:28:22.3
9. Guelph B 0:30:08.8
10. Toronto B 0:31:05.7
WOMEN'S 10km CLASSIC
1. Britt Bailey (Lakehead) 0:36:50.8
2. Zoe Braul (Carleton) 0:36:56.3
3. Linnaea Kershaw (Lakehead) 0:37:02.6
4. Nellie Dow (Waterloo) 0:37:06.2
5. Julie McVicar (Queen's) 0:37:11.8
6. Hilary Schrama (Lakehead) 0:37:21.0
7. Adele Lay (Carleton) 0:38:30.0
8. Katherine Hall (Lakehead) 0:38:30.7
9. Amanda Holdsworth (Lakehead) 0:38:59.0
10. Julie Porter (Laurentian) 0:39:00.9
MEN'S 15km CLASSIC
1. Colin Abbott (Carleton) 0:46:14.5
2. Chris Hamilton (Lakehead) 0:46:16.1
3. Scott Sullivan (Lakehead) 0:47:31.2
4. Matthias Purdon (Carleton) 0:47:55.7
5. Christen Mamen (Carleton) 0:47:56.9
6. Mark Doble (Lakehead) 0:48:48.0
7. Ian Ritchie (Guelph) 0:49:12.4
8. Robert Martin (Lakehead) 0:49:23.4
9. Aaron Barter (Toronto) 0:50:08.9
10. Matthew Cuddy (Lakehead) 0:50:30.2
"Heat Recovery Formula!"