HUNTSVILLE, Ont. - The McMaster Nordic skiing teams traveled to Arrowhead Provincial Park for the 2023 OUA Nordic Skiing Championships in search of some historic performances. The McMaster Marauders women's Nordic ski team closed out the Ontario season on a high note, claiming the program's first-ever provincial medal. On the men's side, McMaster finished in ninth spot.
FULL RESULTS
After a dominant performance at the Ontario Cup just last weekend where the Marauders picked up nine gold medals, ten silver medals and seven bronze, the maroon and grey squad entered the OUA Championships with momentum and had high expectations for the week.
A member of the Canadian biathlon roster for the 2023 FISU Games and captain of the Marauders' women's squad,
Cara Pekos (Richmond Hill, Ont.), continued her fine form this season. On Day 1 of the competition in the women's freestyle, the third-year kinesiology student crossed the finish line in sixth spot in a time of 21:50.4, just 56 seconds back of the gold medalist.
Emma Waddington, a graduate student studying kinesiology, and third-year arts and science student,
Anna Harris, were the other two Marauders to cross the women's freestyle finish line in the Top 20. Waddington recorded a time of 23:36.7 to place 19th while Harris was just 1.6 seconds behind her teammate in 20th spot.
Ingrid Pedersen (33rd),
Olivia Rowan (42nd) and
Laura Harris (45th) rounded out the finishes for the maroon and grey on Day 1.
On the second day of competition, Pekos again was the top Marauder finisher in the mass start race with a time of 56:48.1, good for twelfth place. Two spots back was teammate,
Anna Harris, in a time of 57:34.8. Waddington and Pedersen weren't far behind in 24th and 30th spot, respectively.
Laura Harris (40th) and
Olivia Rowan (43rd) rounded out the maroon and grey finishes.
Pekos closed out the week as a member of the McMaster team relay roster along with
Anna Harris and Waddington who finished just off the podium in fourth with a time of 30:17.8.
The Marauder women ended the week in third spot in the team standings with 170 points to secure the Marauders' first-ever medal in Nordic skiing. The Carleton Ravens put on a dominant performance to secure the gold while the Laurentian Voyageurs earned the silver.
On the men's side,
Errol Bowman was the first Marauder to cross the finish line in the freestyle competition with a time of 20:45.2, good for 27th spot. Teammates
Nick Sammon,
William Bleecker and
Christian Dizon were close together at the end of the race for a 46-48-50 finish.
Day 2 saw Bowman record the fastest time for the maroon and grey in the mass start race. His time of 52:42.4 secured him 30th overall. A group of consistency, Sammon, Dizon and Bleecker were once again in the middle of the pack, crossing the finish line in 46th, 48th and 49th, respectively.
The Marauders concluded the OUA Championship with the relay portion of the event on Friday where Bowman, Sammon and Bleecker secured 15th.
When it comes to the overall rankings, the McMaster men's team ended in ninth place.
The exciting week of racing in Huntsville marks the end of the 2022-23 OUA campaign.
