The Red Hawk Nordic Ski team competed at COSSA at Arrowhead Provincial Park Feb. 12.
The meet combined skiers from COSSA, GBSSA (Georgian Bay Secondary School Association) and CISSA (Conference of Independent Schools Athletic Association) as skiers aimed to qualify for the OFSAA nordic championships Feb. 20-21 in Sudbury.
The senior boys were first on the course, skiing 7.5 km. The top Red Hawk was Brechin Johnston, with a second-place finish and a time of 28:02. Evan Backus followed in third; Graham Backus fifth; Owen Megrah-Poppe eighth and Carter Sisco 11th. The team finished first in the interval races and followed Adam Scott for second in the 4x800m sprint.
The senior girls swept the COSSA rankings, led by Violet Humphries with a second-place finish and a time of 30:58; followed by Erika Hoare in third; Olivia Gruppe fourth; Ella Gervais fifth; Teagan Hamilton sixth; Grace Allder seventh and Hannah Sharp eighth, dominating team rival, Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School. The top four skiers teamed up for a very fast sprint relay to round out their gold medal day, showing they can hang with ski powerhouses like Huntsville and Collingwood.
In the junior boys’ division, Tristan Humphries made his debut on the COSSA podium finishing in third, completing the 5.5km course in 21:57. He was closely followed by Winston Ramsdale in fourth; Red Hawk skiers fly at COSSA championships and new skiers Eric Mueller 12th; Brady Hamilton 15th and Jack Sharp in 19th. The team was edged out by Adam Scott for interval race team champions, but fought back to beat them in the sprint relay.
Sole junior girl skier Annika Gervais skated her way to a silver medal with a time of 22:44 on the 5.5km course, also earning her first COSSA medal as a new high school skier. Gervais also placed third later in the day in the 800m exhibition sprint.
High school coaches Karen Gervais, and Mike Rieger, and community coaches Kevin Hoare and Joleen Thomas, were very pleased with the athletes’ performances, and their strong determination feeding their continued improvements.
