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Video of the Week
Basia and Steph on their way to 2nd & 4th place finishes in the 0.8 km Classic Race at O-Cup #4 in February, Kamview Nordic Centre
Chandra Crawford Victory in A Final Canmore WC - Jan 26, 2008
Not So Hotties!
MS Run & Roll
Half Marathon
Run, Inline Skate or Roller-Ski
for Multiple Sclerosis
Sun. July 19th
SNOW PHONE NUMBERS
Big Thunder - 624-4274 Kamview - 625-5075 Lappe - 767-2423
Kelly Henry
is our
Hottie of the Month
Kelly Henry is our Hottie of the Month.
Kelly is a dedicated Big Thunder member who arrives EARLY to every practice and puts her best effort in. Also of importance is that Kelly Henry has worked almost every Bingo if not every Bingo for the last year.
For these reasons, and also because you are so hot, you could be the Hottie of the Month!!
Ontario Tentative 09-10 Race Schedule
- CCO has posted the preliminary race schedule for the coming season, as follows:
O-Cups
#1 - Dec. 19 - 20, Lappe Nordic, Thunder Bay (also OWG selection race)
#2 - Jan. 16 - 17, Arrowhead Nordic, Huntsville (also OWGs)
#3 - Jan. 30 -31, Nakkertok, Ottawa (also NCD Easterns)
#4 - Feb. 13 - 15, Onaping Falls Nordic, Sudbury
Midget Champs - Mar. 6-7, Highlands Nordic, Duntroon
(June 26, 2009)
Thunder Bay NTDC 09-10
- Congratulations to the following BT athletes who have been nominated to the Thunder Bay NTDC for the coming season:
Luke Viljakainen
Christina Groulx
Ghislain De Laplante
Scott Sullivan
Chris Hamilton
Full lists for the Thunder Bay and Quebec NTDCs are available here.
(June 15, 2009)
Ski to School Scholarship
- Applications to the Ski to School Scholarship, awarded to individuals who combine excllence in both academics and cross-country skiing, are now available through the CCC website, at the following link.
(May 21, 2009)
10 Mile Road Race
- Congratulations to Chris Hamilton on his 4th place finish in yesterday's 10 Mile Road Race. There were a lot of great performances from BT skiers from the Mini-Midget through to the Masters age groups.
Top 10 finishers in their age-groups included:
Janice Watson-Ryan
Daniel Tesolin
Scott Sullivan
The following BT teams also took 1st, 3rd and 4th place in the 14+ relay races
- Jeff Cameron, Jimmy Gunka, Lachlan Armstrong, Gabe Viljakainen, Fergus Foster
- Angus Foster, Julien Frietag, Colin Pendziwol, Phil Luckai, David Ek
- Daphne Haggarty, Moira Haggarty, Steph Drost, Krista Luckai, Katie Armstrong
Full results will be posted soon at 10 Mile Road Race.
(May 19, 2009)
LSSD Dryland Camp Registration
- The registration form for the LSSD XC Dryland Camp is now available on the CCO website.
(May 19, 2009)
CCO Dryland Camps
- CCO has released the dates & some locations for the provincial dryland camps for 2009, including the LSSD camp to be hosted by Lakehead XC in Thunder Bay from June 30th - July 4th.
The full list, including Midget camps, is on the CCO site, here.
(May 7, 2009)
Coach Wins the Fresh Air 10K Run
- Congratulations to Adam on his victory in the Fresh Air 10K run this past weekend, he finished up with a time of 34 minutes, 59 seconds!
(April 28, 2009)
Ontario Ski Team Nomination List
- Congratulations to the following Big Thunder athletes who have made the 2009 Ontario Ski Team nomination list:
Juvenile Girls - Stephanie Drost
Junior Girls - Kara Jaspers, Daphne Haggarty
Junior Women - Christina Groulx
Junior Men - Ghislain De Laplante, Scott Sullivan
The full list is available at CCO website.
(April 24, 2009)
And the Winner is.....
- Big Thunder held its annual banquet on April 18th, and handed out the following awards:
Skier of the Year, Male - Ghislain De Laplante
Skier of the Year, Female - Kara Jaspers
Most Improved Male - Colin Pendziwol
Most Improved Female - Stephanie Drost
Sportsmanship Award - Krista Luckai
Hardcore Skier - Dudley Coulter
Coach of the Year - Frank Luckai
Volunteer of the Year - Kim Armstrong
Technique Award - Mia Serratore
Congratulations to all the athletes, coaches and volunteers for a fantastic year!
(April 19, 2009)
Ontario Points List Available
- the following BT athletes achieved Top 5 rankings on the 2009 Ontario points list:
Juvenile Girls
Stephanie Drost - 3rd
Basia Gunka - 5th
Junior Girls
Kara Jaspers - 1st
Krista Luckai - 5th
Junior Boys
Jimmy Gunka - 5th
Junior Women
Christina Groulx - 2nd
Junior Men
Ghislain De Laplante - 2nd
Scott Sullivan - 3rd
Chris Hamilton - 5th
The full lists are available through the CCO website.
(April 17, 2009)
CCC Releases Preliminary NST Selection Points
- Cross Country Canada released it's preliminary National Ski Team and NTDC selection points listing, with the following athletes representing the top 3 BT results:
Men's Sprints
Sean Crooks - 5th
Christ Butler - 21st
Scott Sullivan - 43rd
Men's Distance
Chris Butler - 10th
Sean Crooks - 18th
Luke Viljakainen - 32nd
Women's Sprints
Christina Groulx - 17th
Karla Bailey - 23rd
Kara Jaspers - 34th
Women's Distance
Anna Crawford - 17th
Karlay Bailey - 27th
Christina Groulx - 32nd
The full lists are available here.
(April 7, 2009)
CCO Report on Nationals
- You can read CCO Coach Kateri Mills' report on the Nationals at the CCO website.
(April 3, 2009)
Women on Skis @ Kamview
- Rena's summary of the March 14th Women on Skis session can be found on the CCC website here.
(April 2, 2009)
24 Hours Relay at Lappe
- Congratulations to all who participated in the 24 hour relay at Lappe, and to Kelly Henry for setting a new distance record of 284.8 km for a solo female.
Results and pics are available through the Lappe website.
(March 22, 2009)
Nationals Wrap-Up
- Huge congratulations to all the Big Thunder and LU athletes, coaches and support crew on their achievements at Nationals last week, they really showed the strength and depth of Thunder Bay skiers. Here's a summary of the team and Top 20 individual aggregate points results from the event.
University Team - Womens
Lakehead - 1st
University Team - Mens
Lakehead - 5th
Club
Big Thunder - 3rd
University Individual - Mens
Chris Hamilton - 7th
Scott Sullivan - 11th
University Individual - Womens
Mallory Deyne - 4th
Anna Crawford - 5th
Hilary Schrama - 9th
Britt Bailey - 13th
Junior Girls
Kara Jaspers - 3rd
Junior Men
Ghislain De LaPlante - 7th
Luke Viljakainen - 11th
Chris Hamilton - 18th
Scott Sullivan - 20th
Junior Women
Christina Groulx - 8th
Juvenile Girls
Stephanie Drost - 11th
Basia Gunka - 17th
Open Men
Sean Crooks - 3rd
Chris Butler - 20th
Open Women
Karla Bailey - 12th
Anna Crawford - 13th
Kerrie Fabius - 20th
ParaNordic Standing Men
Fank Pollari - 2nd
All the results can be found at the Ski National Results page.
(March 19, 2009)
Nationals Update Day 8
- It was a strong finish to the Nationals for BT, with Ghislain De Laplante taking silver in the Junior Men 30 km Free Mass, Kara Jaspers coming in 4th in the Junior Girls 10 km, and Chris Butler finishing 5th in the Open Men 50 km.
Open Men 50 km Free Mass Start
Chris Butler - 5th
Sean Crooks - 12th
Jeff Cameron - 29th
Junior Men 30 km Free Mass Start
Ghislain De Laplante - 2nd
Luke Viljakainen - 16th
Dudley Coulter - 26th
Lachlan Armstrong - 40th
Open Women 30 km Free Mass Start
Anna Crawford - 17th
Karla Bailey - 21st
Kerrie Fabius - 30th
Junior Women 15 km Free Mass Start
Christina Groulx - 9th
Junior Girls - 10 km Free Mass Start
Kara Jaspers - 4th
Krista Luckai - 27th
Juvenile Girls - 7.5 km Free Mass Start
Stephanie Drost - 13th
Basia Gunka - 17th
Moira Haggarty - 28th
Full results can be found here.
(March 17, 2009)
Nationals Update Day 7
- A Big Thunder athlete medalled for the fourth consecutive day, with Kara Jaspers winning silver in the Junior Girls 5 km Classic. Other BT results were:
Junior Boys 7.5 km Classic
Gabe Viljakainen - 34th
Jimmy Gunka - 35th
Junior Girls 5 km Classic
Kara Jaspers - 2nd
Krista Luckai - 30th
Juvenile Girls 5 km Classic
Basia Gunka - 11th
Stephanie Drost - 20th
Moira Haggarty - 28th
Full results can be found here.
( March 17, 2009)
Nationals Update Day 6
- Another double medal day for BT skiers, with Sean Crooks winning the Open Men classic sprint and Christina Groulx taking the silver in the Junior Women's race. Results from BT athletes for the day were:
Open Men 1.3 km Classic Sprint
Sean Crooks - 1st
Chris Butler - 33rd
Open Women 1.3 km Classic Sprint
Karla Bailey - 13th
Kerrie Fabius - 24th
Anna Crawford - 27th
Junior Men 1.3 km Classic Sprint
Scott Sullivan - 8th
Luke Viljakainen - 11th
Ghislain De Laplante - 25th
Chris Hamilton - 26th
Dudley Coulter - 28th
Junior Women 1.3 km Classic Sprint
Christina Groulx - 2nd
Full results are here
(March 13, 2009)
Nationals Update Day 5
- BT skiers earned 2 more medals today in the classic sprint finals, with both Stephanie Drost and Frank Pollari winning silver! The team kept their hold on 3rd place in the club standings, with Nakkertok and Foothills in 1st and 2nd.
ParaNordic Men Standing 0.8 km Classic Sprint
Frank Pollari - 2nd
Juvenile Girls 0.8 km Classic Sprint
Stephanie Drost - 2nd
Basia Gunka - 16th
Moira Haggarty - 24th
Junior Boys 0.8 km Classic Sprint
Jimmy Gunka - 11th
Luke Viljakainen - 12th
Junior Girls 0.8 km Classic Sprint
Kara Jaspers - 9th
Krista Luckai - 34th
Full results are here
(March 12, 2009)
Nationals Update Day 4
- Another strong showing from BT athletes on Day 4, picking up the 2nd highest number of points among all 60 clubs competing and jumping into 3rd place in the club standings. Top individual results from the day were:
Open Men 15 km Classic
Sean Crooks - 3rd
Chris Butler - 18th
Junior Men 15 km Classic
Ghislain De Laplante - 4th
Chris Hamilton - 11th
Luke Viljakainen - 14th
Open Women 10 km Classic
Anna Crawford - 16th
Kerrie Fabius - 21st
Karla Bailey - 23rd
Junior Women 10 km Classic
Christina Groulx - 13th
Full results are here
(March 12, 2009)
Nationals Update Day 2
- After Day 2, Big Thunder has moved up to 5th place in the club standings, with the LU Women in 2nd place and the LU Men in 3rd in the university standings. The competition resumes on Wednesday with individual classic races. Below are the top LU / BT results from the day.
University Women's 5 km Free Skate
Mallory Deyne - 5th
Anna Crawford - 9th
University Men's 10 km Free Skate
Chris Hamilton - 5th
Overall Women 5 km Free Skate
Karla Bailey - 19th (18th Open Women)
Christina Groulx - 35th (9th Junior Women)
Anna Crawford - 39th (27th Open Women)
Junior Girls 5 km Free Skate
Kara Jaspers - 4th
Krista Luckai - 39th
Overall Men 10 km Free Skate
Sean Crooks - 22nd (19th Open Men)
Ghislain DeLaplante - 24th (5th Junior Men)
Luke Viljakainen - 31st (7th Junior Men)
Chris Hamilton - 48th (14th Junior Men)
Junior Boys 10 km Free Skate
Gabe Viljakainen - 34th
Jimmy Gunka - 40th
Juvenile Girls 5 km Free Skate
Stephanie Drost - 18th
Moira Haggarty - 27th
Basia Gunka - 49th
Full results are posted at Zone 4 (University) and Zone 4 (BT)
(March 10, 2009)
University Men's Free Sprint Relay
Scott Sullivan & Chris Hamilton - 1st
University Women's Free Sprint Relay
Mallory Deyne & Anna Crawford - 1st
Hilary Schrama & Britt Bailey - 3rd
Katherine Hall & Ellen Ross - 5th
Stephanie Drost & Kara Jaspers - 6th
Luke Viljakainen & Chris Butler - 7th
Adam Kates & Jeff Cameron - 8th
Karla Bailey & Christina Groulx - 6th
Big Thunder skiers bring home awards at the Sleeping Giant Loppet
- with many BT skiers away at Nationals in Duntroon, those who stayed home put on some strong showings on the fast trails of the Sleeping Giant Loppet this past weekend. Jeff Cameron placed 3rd in the 50 km, Rena Viehbeck and Marcia Migay came in 1st and 2nd in the 50 km Classic - Female, Matt Schoales place 2nd in the 50 km Classic - Male, HiIlary Mettam 1st in the 35 km - Female, and Julian Freitag was 3rd across the line in the 20 km. There were many other great results, you can find them all at sleepinggiantloppet.ca
Big Thunder dominates at Ontario Midget Championships - Big Thunder athletes aged 9-13 won half of the medals offered on the Sault Ste. Marie trails Feb 28-March 1. For results go to www.zone4.ca
The Ontario Cup race notice is now HERE!
Ontario Cup Race Maps are also here!
Ghislain DeLaplante skis in all 4 races at the World Junior Championships. G-Man does Big Thunder proud with a 31st place finish in the 10km at the World Junior Championships.
Big Thunder sends team to Eastern Canadian Championships - races will begin Jan 31 and Feb 1st on the edge of Gatinea Park. Stay tuned for results.
NTDC Athletes race well in Minnesota Supertour event - On Saturday Jan 24th, NTDC placed two athletes in the top ten of the 10km Classic with Harry Seaton in 3rd and Michael Somppi a 7th. Sunday saw Big Thunder athlete, Luke Viljakainen place 4th in the 10km skate event with Somppi in 7th and Seaton in 8th. The Supertour event pays prize money for those athletes coming in top ten. Christina Groulx was 2nd junior in the Sunday event placing 16th overall.
Two Big Thunder athletes qualify for World Senior Championships - Sean Crooks and Chris Butler both qualified at the 11th hour to represent Canada at the World Nordic Championships to be held in Liberec, Czech Republic Feb.18 – March 3. Sean was selected based on his strong sprinting performances and Chris Butler his distance results. Best wishes to both competitors.
Crooks has tough day at the office - Sean Crooks was ski skating his way to qualifying for the team sprint finals until a competitors ski tip opened his binding. The team of Sean Crooks and Ivan Babikov had a good chance of advancing to the next round until the mishap occured. Canada finished the 3 days of racing on a positive note with a 3rd place finish by 20 year old Alex Harvey and veteran George Grey. It was an exciting day on the race course of next years Olympic and Para-Olympic Games. And as Head Wax Tech, Yves Bilodeau stated, "It's not a great ending, it's a great beginning." The future looks bright for Canada's youngest National Team member.
Chris Butler places 14th at Whistler World Cup - Butler skied an outstanding race to finish 14th in the 30km Continuous Pursuit race held under unusually sunny skies for the Callaghan Valley area. Waxing was easy and conditions were fast for Butler who lunged at the finishline to beat Dan Roycroft to the line. Chris' finish made him 4th best Canadian on the day.
Congratulations to Big Thunder Skiers who have qualified to race the Callaghan World Cup. Both Sean Crooks and Chris Butler will be racing one or all of the races. The races will be televised on CBC, please see link for the televised schedule. Television and race schedule.
Congratulations to all Lappe Invitational Participants- for results see www.zone4.ca
G-Man Qualifies for World Junior Championships - Ghislain De Laplante is the first Big Thunder skier since Chris Butler in 2005 that will be participating at the 2009 World Junior Championships. This year the event is to take place in Praz De Lys France in February. Ghislain put in a solid showing in the distance events to qualify and was selected 5th. Unfortunately, because he was the picked 5th, he now has to front $3500 to participate. We are looking for donations to help Ghislain pay this fee. Any donations can be dropped off at Kamview. Please have the staff put into an envelope at the desk. Thanks for your help.
Hello and Happy New Year - The Beaten Path Nordic Ski Club is inviting skiers, snowshoers, and anyone else to French Lake for a bonfire and ice candle evening following our annual Sawmill Lake Classic Tour.
"Smokies" are provided, and you may bring potluck as an additional option.
Come take in Quetico Park's Centennial Celebrations Saturday,January 17th.
Call or e-mail if you have questions.
Chris Stromberg 1-807-597-4503
http://atikokancanoe.tripod.com/beatenpath/
Groulx places 3rd in sprint at World Junior Trials - Christina Groulx narrowly misses 2nd place by inches and first by a metre. Christina fought hard to earn her way into the finals on the final day of the World Junior Championship trial races. For more Big Thunder and Lakehead U results please visit www.zone4.ca
G-Man places 3rd at World Junior Trials in Canmore Alberta. Ghislain DeLaplante, both a Big Thunder and Lakehead University skier had an exceptional race to put him in the running for qualifying for World Junior Trials. Many more Big Thunder and Lakehead athletes raced, see zone4.ca for more results. The racing continues with the continuous pursuit runnng today under much warmer conditions.
Big Thunder athletes attend the World Junior & World U23 Championship Trial races in Canmore. The first race was cancelled due to too cold temperatures. This pursuit race is rescheduled for Monday January 5th. With this change, athletes will be racing January 4th, 5th and 6th. The first race will now be a 10km and 15km interval start skate race, followed by the 10km and 20km pursuit, ending with the classic sprints. Wish them well!
Congratulations to former Big Thunder Ski Club member Drew Nixon for his 14th place at Ofsaa last weekend. Just remember, we taught you everything you know about racing!
Anna Crawford makes 2009 FISU World University Games -Big Thunder has another athlete named to the World University Games to be held in China next February. Other local athletes are Mallory Deyne of Lakehead University and Harry Seaton of the NTDC Thunder Bay. This is the largest multi-sport event outside of an Olympic Games.
Very Belated Congratulations go out to two Big Thunder athletes who qualified for the NTDC- Thunder Bay. Congrats to Luke Viljakainen and Christina Groulx. Your hard work has paid off and you are taking an important next step towards your lofty ski goals. Best wishes.
Big Thunder & Lakehead Welcomes New Coach Adam Kates -
Congratulations to Lisa Patterson for being named Female Coach of the Year by the Coaches Association of Ontario(CAO). The event was held in Toronto on Thursday marking another highlight in Lisa's career. Lisa has done an amazing job as head coach of Big Thunder and the Lakehead Varisty Team, and we all wish her the best of luck for her new position within CCC.
Qualified candidates should have:
- experience as a athlete or coach in a competitive racing program
- excellent communication skills
- good understanding of Sport Canada's Long Term Athlete Development program
Interested candidates are encouraged to send a brief resume with 3 references to:
President Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club
Congratuations to Kara Jaspers for bring nominated to the tenative 2018 National Team. Kara is currently in Duluth and doesn't know of her success, she is sure in for a suprise when she gets home. For a complete team listing follow link.
Lisa Patterson says good bye to Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club and Lakehead University Ski Teams - Head Coach Patterson will be taking a position with Cross Country Canada starting April 15th. For details from CCC - click here.
Details from Lakehead Athletics - click here.
Big Thunder hosts City Championships/NTDC Invitational - Race conditions were ideal for the 11am start and saw Becky Puiras and Phil Wood take the continuous pursuit event. For more results click here.
Congratulations to the Ontario Winter Games Participants - Day 2 saw many of the LSSD athletes do extremely well as they participated in the Team Sprint event. Medalists included: Gold - Steph Drost & Katie Armstrong, Fergus Foster & Ryan Pendziwol; Sadie White and Catriona Downie; Bronze - Julian Frietag & Nicholas Dumontier. For all results click here.
Midgets, Mini-Midgets and Juveniles do well at Ontario Winter Games - Big Thunder/Kamview saw a number of athletes earn them selves medals and produce best ever results. Sadie White, Basia Gunka, Steph Drost and Fergus Foster will be bringing some hardware home from day one. To see results from Day one - click here. Athletes compete in the Team Sprints today and results can be found on www.zone4.ca
Marcia Migay is World Champion - Marcia earned herself a gold medal in the 15km Cl and 10km Skate (and even beat a girl named Svetlana - that's gotta be worth 3 medals!) Many of our masters are representing our club at the World Masters in Idaho. Look for results from Iain Mettam, Susan Fabius, Karen Greenfield, Sam Niemi and Marcia Migay. Click here for results.
Congrats Chris Butler on his 21st place finish at World U23 Championships - to read his article, click here.
Kamview Classic cancelled due to cold temperatures.
Kamview Classic to be held this Friday evening Jan 18th.
Luke, Ghislain, Chris and Mallory are representing Big T at the third set of Canada Cups in Val Cartier Quebec. Click here to see what they are up to.
Stephen Hart is Big Thunder's New Assistant Coach -
Pizza Night and Coaches Meeting - Nov 8th - Kamview following evening workout.
Moira Haggarty makes CCC website - go to http://www.cccski.com/main.asp?cmd=doc&ID=4657&lan=0
Big Thunder Membership and Program Registration Forms Now Available
The LSSD Camp ran from July 3-7th with up to 45 participants over the 5 days. Participants came from all over Ontario including: Kenora, Red Lake, Timmins, Marathon, Sault Ste. Marie, Toronto, Barrie and Midland. Many thanks to all the volunteers who made this a great camp. The food was outstanding yet again. Thanks also to the coaching help of the NTDC team. We hope the participants will return again next year. For photo's, please visit our photo gallery over the next few days. (July 10, 2007)
The website is in the process of being completed and is available to be viewed on www.lakeheadxc.com. Once you pay your membership, you will receive a login in order to access member pages only such as: training schedules (under Coaches Corner), a discussion board, calendar, and video cataloguing system. You will be able to login at the bottom of the home page. Stay tuned for new updates and exciting features in the near future. (June 10, 2007)
Hottie of the Week
