Our First Eastern Canadian Championships

Last weekend was a landmark occasion for uOttawa Nordiq. We fielded a team of athletes to compete as uOttawa GeeGees in the Haywood NorAm Eastern Canadian Championships for the first time ever! Chris, Nico, Caleb, Nathan, Evan, Liam, Katherine, Shayna, and coach Sheila took part in the event.

The 3-day event was held at Nakkertok Nordic February 2 to February 4 and is often the most competitive race of the year for Canadian skiers. This year's race attracted over 800 competitors from across North America, and from Alaska to Newfoundland. It was part of the FIS Continental Cup’s: Canadian Haywood NorAm National race series, and a stop on the USA Super Tour series. A few American athletes used these races as their final tune-up before the PyeongChang Olympics.

We were proud to have uOttawa represented in all three events: the classic sprints Friday, Freestlyle middle distances races Saturday, and the distance classic race on Sunday. Sunday's event had an exciting pursuit-style start based on Saturday's results, and skiing in a snowstorm made the event truly epic.

Over 80 clubs from across Canada participated. It is also the event that hosts the most University teams and student athletes and uOttawa Nordiq was happy to be a part of it!

This large event is made possible by a dedicated organizing committee and 100's of volunteers from Ottawa-Gatineau Cross-country Ski Community and three local clubs: Nakkertok Nordic, Skinouk, and Chelsea Nordiq. From parking in the early morning, to getting refued in the the food tent post-race, volunteers had smiles on their faces and were helping things run smoothly. The Nakkertok grooming crew performed it's usual stellar job with the racing trails and warmup trails. Many thanks to the volunteers who made this event happen!

We had lots of help . . .

We have a beautiful sport, and the Eastern Canadian Championships has set an incredible photography standard that showcases it so well. Many thanks to Rob Smith and his crew of volunteer photographers who captured our athletes in action, which include most of the photos you see on this page. uOttawa Nordiq's own Elodie Drew was among them - you can view her photos here. And do take some time to view other photos from the event here, they are incredible!