ORILLIA, Ont. - The first day of racing at the Ontario Winter Games happened in tough conditions with a winter storm warning hitting the Orillia area the day before racing started. The Thunder Bay athletes, representing the Lake Superior Ski Division, proved just how tough they are with two races in lots of fresh snow. Thursday morning the athletes competed in a 1.1 km freestyle sprint, followed by a team relay in the afternoon.
The 2004 girls dominated their field with Hannah Zavitz winning the race and having the fastest female time, Brooke Ailey finished in third, Carley Kiiskila in fourth and Sarah Cullinan in 5th. In the 2005 Girls category Isobel Stewart fought for a solid 10th place finish. In the 2006 Girls category Ruth Zavitz added to the family’s medal count with a 2nd place finish, and Maaritta Puiras finished 9th and Mattea Hakanen finished 10th.
In the 2004 Boys category Matthew Randall just missed the top ten win a close finish in 11th place. In the 2005 Boys race Joel Haering led the group with a 4th place finish and was joined in the top 10 by Edgar Sarrazin in 10th place.
In the 2006 Boys category LSSD will be bringing home more hardware with Sebastien Doucet finishing with a silver medal. He was followed by a dominant Thunder Bay force with Willem van Duyn in 4th, Cedric Martel in 5th, Eric Jamsa in 6th and Josiah Weber in 7th.
In the afternoon the athletes competed in a 4 x 2.2 km mixed gender relay race. LSSD’s top team finished 5th overall, the team was comprised of Brooke Ailey, Hannah Zavitz, Joel Haering and Sebastien Doucet.
Racing is scheduled to continue today with a 4 km classic race.
