With many of the best skiers in Canada competing at the Olympics or preparing for the World Junior and U23 Championships, the next generation are racing this weekend at Nakkertok Ski Centre. The three race days are part of the Eastern Canadian Championships, presented by Tourisme Outaouais.

The Open class racers were participating in a 10k, classic, interval start race, while the youngest categories competed in a sprint.

Barrie’s Scott Hill led from start to finish to finish, finishing a little over 10 seconds ahead of Université Laval’s, Alexis Dumas. Varennes’s Étienne Hébert came 3rd, another 8 seconds later.

Scott Hill: « The race was good. It’s been a while since I have raced at Nakkertok, which was the big race site for me, when I was growing up. I knew early in the race that it was pretty close with the other racers, maybe I wasn’t in top form, but it was good enough for today. « 

Guillaume Pelchat from Pembroke was the top junior, with Nakkertok’s Robin Mason, from Ottawa the top local junior in second.

On the women’s side, Ottawa’s Katya Semeniuk, a junior from Nakkertok skiing out of the Alberta World Cup Academy, set the fastest time. She dominated the race, finishing just over a minute ahead of Nakkertok and Cantley’s, Zoe Williams. Quebec City’s Élie-Anne Tremblay, another junior, finished third.

Katya Semeniuk : « It was super good. I could really push myself and it was really fun to be back on my home trails. ».

Racing starts up again Saturday at 9 AM, with the open categories racing in the sprint qualifying competition. The head-to-head knockout, sprint heats should begin around 11 AM.

For more information on the race, contact:

Anton Scheier, 613-601-8257 media@engne.ca or Marie-Pier Pelletier-Millette, +1 (819) 593-1159 mariepierpm@gmail.com