COACH CASEY DETHRONES DEFENDING CHAMPION
The weather and conditions couldn’t have been much better for today’s 2014 Prince George Toyota Spirit of the Rivers Loppet at the Otway Nordic Center. At race time, under mostly clear skies, temperatures were slightly below zero firming the snow in anticipation of late morning temperatures around +4o C. 138 registrants, many skiing mainly for recreation and others for competition, lined up at 10:00 AM.
Winning times in the Free Technique race, assisted by the excellent conditions, were approximately 10-15% faster than last year. As was the case in 2013, determining the fastest overall skier in the 30 km race came down to the last few meters. This year the sprint duel was between last year’s fastest skier, David Zurevinski, of Vanderhoof’s Nechako Nordic Ski Club, and Andrew Casey (Caledonia Nordic Ski Club’s coach). In a photo finish Casey came through with a time of 1 hour 23 minutes and 57.4 seconds, the winner by 2/10ths of a second. Last year’s second place finisher, Tony Fiala finished a mere 5.2 seconds behind Zurevinski. Fiala was the fastest skier at the Hallis Lake Loppet earlier this year. The fastest overall time was hotly contested as Mike Smith, Jacqui Benson (2010’s fastest), Kris Yip (2012’s fastest) placed 4th, 5th, and 6th respectively.
The fastest overall women’s time was recorded by Jacqui Benson with a time of 1 hour 30 minutes and 40.9 seconds. As in 2013, Shar Balogh was second and Jacqui Pettersen third. Angela Wheeler, Erica Casey, and Wendy Fiala placed 4th, 5th, and 6th respectively.
Tim Antill recorded the fastest overall Classic Technique 30 km time when he completed the course in 2 hours 16 minutes and 18 seconds. Last year’s fastest Classic Technique skier, Gord Horning, placed 2nd. Cheryl Moors had the 2014 fastest women’s Classic Technique 30 km time, completing the course in 2 hours 34 minutes and 9 seconds.
Complete results are available at: http://zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=6633&cat=all
A link to photos will be distributed when they become available.
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