Remi Drolet (bib #331) won first place in the Juvenile Boys’ 10-km Mass Start Classic on Saturday.
After a strong start at the Haywood 2016 Ski Nationals, Black Jack skiers continued to make Rossland proud.
After a strong start at the cross country ski nationals, Black Jack skiers continued to make Rossland proud leading into the final day of competition on Saturday.
Rossland’s own Remi Drolet ended the Haywood 2016 Ski Nationals with two gold and two silver medals, Julien Locke placed third in the Men’s 1.2-km sprint final, and Chiaki Yamamota earned a silver medal in the 5-km classic and captured a bronze medal in the 20-km classic on Saturday.
Remi Drolet, age 15, earned two silver medals in Juvenile Boys’ Sprints on Thursday, and on Saturday finished first in the Juvenile Boys’ 10-km Mass Start Classic, making the podium for every race he entered.
Drolet also placed first in the Juvenile Boys’ 5 km Interval Start Classic on Sunday, March 20.
His four medals were enough for Drolet to capture the overall National Juvenile Boys cross-country title. He also won the prestigious Sofie Manarin Award that goes to the top male and female juvenile skier (under 15 years) at the Canadian Cross-country Ski championship.
This was Drolet’s second year at Nationals, but he said he didn’t too as well last year because he was sick during the competition. He’s eager to build on this year’s success at next’s competition.
With his bronze-medal podium finish, Locke wrapped up the Haywood Buff Sprint Series championship title and Athlete of the Year award for his great results in the sprint races during the season and at the U23 World Ski championship in Romania last month.
Locke’s bronze medal firmly planted him among Canada’s top skiers, as the Nelson native finished behind Canadian National ski team members Alex Harvey who won gold and Lenny Valjas who claimed silver in the event.
Locke jumped out to a good start on the 1,200 metre course. With two laps and an exciting downhill corner, he pushed Canada’s best to the very end and was just edged out of a silver by Valjas at the finish.
Locke’s time of 2:15.43 put him less than a second behind Valjas, 2:14.48, and two seconds back of Harvey who clocked a gold-medal time of 2:13.39. Locke also finished ahead of Team Canada skiers Jesse Cockney who finished in 2:16.08 and Graeme Killick, 2:18.61.
The National ski championship was a positive ending to an already impressive season for Black Jack skiers and bodes well for the future. Results like Locke’s should garner him consideration on Canada’s ski team, but according to Wood, the former coach of the national team, that will be up to a cryptic selection process.