Cross Country Canada has just announced the list of athletes invited to represent Canada at World Cup races to be held in Vernon and Canmore in December. See the CCC Announcement.
XC Ottawa's Karl Saidla was invited, based on his strong performance at the Canmore NorAm race this past weekend.
Karl will compete in the following races:
December 10 - Pursuit – Vernon/Sovereign Lake
December 15 - 10/15km Freestyle - Canmore
December 17 - 15/30km Classic mass-start - Canmore
December 18 – Sprint relay classic - Canmore
XC Ottawa.ca's Megan McTavish also met the selection race qualifying standard at the Canmore NorAm race. Unfortunately, Cross Country Canada could not invite Megan to represent Canada since she didn't meet the required FIS standard based on her previous years race results. While injuries (ACL and two ankle surgeries!) have compromised Megan's training and racing in previous years, her strong result in Canmore against the best skiers in the country show that she's certainly one to watch this season!
Other Ottawa area athletes to qualify for the World Cup team were Nakkertok's Chris Jeffries and Perianne Jones.
You can watch the action on CBC, which will be providing national coverage of the Nordic World Cups. The coverage will focus on the pursuit races in Vernon on December 10, and the mass start classic races in Canmore on December 17. Sprints will be highlighted on December 24th. Programs will be repeated as part of CBC Sports Late Night on December 11th and 18th.
For more information about the Vernon World Cup, go to http://www.sovereignlake2005.ca
For more information about the Canmore World Cup go to http://www.canmore2005.com
Photos: Andrew Rees.
"OWL Rafting - The Mighty Ottawa River"