Archibald Wins 4 x Gold, McClure Wins Silver and Bronze, Sircom-Brown Nabs 9th – at Canadian Ski Nationals, CCUNC and Para Nordic Championships

by Cross Country Nova Scotia, Staff, March 11, 2023 (updated March 18)

THUNDER BAY, O.N.: Emma Archibald won four gold medals, including a gold medal for aggregate; Maggie McClure earned silver and bronze; while Sircom-Brown placed ninth and 25th; Colin Ward finished fourth, 14th and 19th; Newcomb clocked fourth, 11th 23rd, and 25th place finishes; Doyon secured 30th and first in an exhibition team sprint (non-medal race); and Cohen Norman competed for the first time, at the Nordiq Canada Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario, during the weeklong competition.

Nova Scotia athletes are raced against the most talented skiers from across Canada, in this penultimate event, on Nordiq Canada’s calendar. Over 540 athletes and 150 support staff were in Thunder Bay, Ontario, from March 11th – March 17th, at the Lappe Ski Centre. Daniel Murray, head coach of the provincial team, provided coaching support.

Provincial team entrants included: Emma Archibald, uOttawa Nordiq Ski Team, Para Nordic Championships; Lynden Doyon, U16, Ski Nationals; Cohen Norman, U18, Ski Nationals; Milo Sircom-Brown, U18, Ski Nationals, and Ogen Newcomb, U23, Carleton University Ravens nordic team, Canadian College and University Nordic Championships (CCUNC).

Nova Scotia ski team alumni, Maggie McClure and Collin Ward, raced for the Carleton University Ravens nordic team.

Race Highlights:

· University of Ottawa’s Emma Archibald (Fall River), won four gold medals in the women’s distance, sprint freestyle, classic distance, and aggregate in the standing para-nordic classification;

· Milo-Sircom Brown(Wolfville) finished 25th in distance freestyle. Sircom-Brown placed first in sprint qualification and progressed to semi-finals, earning 9th in U18 category.

· Lyndon Doyon (Hammond’s Plains) earned 30th in distance freestyle technique in U16 category. Doyon and Julian Smith placed first in team sprints, exhibition team category (non-medal race), this category gave athletes a chance to race with members of other clubs. Smith is a member of the National Training Centre Thunder Bay and former member of the national ski team, who recently returned from competing at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Slovenia;

· Carleton University’s Ogen Newcomb (Windsor) earned 23rd in CCUNC distance freestyle and 25th in sprints. Newcomb placed fourth in club sprints with teammate Colin Ward, CCUNC. Newcomb nabbed 11th in mass start classic, 30 km, while skiing in heavy snow, 30 km winds, and -17 wind chill.

· Colin Ward (Mahone Bay), Carleton University athlete and NS ski team alumni finished 14th in distance freestyle and 19th in sprints freestyle, CCUNC. Ward finished fourth in club sprints with teammate Ogen Newcomb;

· Maggie McClure (Halifax), Carleton University racer and NS ski team alumni, progressed to quarter-finals open women’s sprint, finishing fifth CCUNC. McClure secured 10th in distance freestyle technique, CCUNC. McClure placed second in club sprints with teammate Bronwyn Williams, CCUNC. McClure secured bronze in Open Women 30 km classic (overall results, silver CCUNC category), in challenging weather conditions with heavy snow, 30 km winds, and -17 wind chill.

Athlete Quotes:

“This was a special year at Nationals because many of us were coming off of CWGs meaning that there were many familiar faces. Being together for 2weeks of racing made National’s that much more fun. It’s been a great opportunity to be able to get to know your competitors better. I was lucky enough to be on the same exhibition relay team as one of my competitors, Maddie on Team Ontario, and we had a great time racing together on the same team. It was another fun and tough week of racing in terms of individual events. I was most proud of my skate sprint race where I was able to shave 7 seconds off of my qualifying time. We were very lucky to be hosted by the Lappe Nordic Center which has many kilometres of amazingly fun and hard ski trails.” … Emma Archibald, NS Ski Team, University of Ottawa Nordiq Ski Team, Nordiq Canada Prospects Team

Coach Quotes:

“Ski Nationals is the toughest event on the race calendar, largely because it brings together the largest quantity of the highest quality skiers in the country. The legendarily long and steep hills of Lappe certainly added to the experience. Our Nova Scotia skiers did attract some attention, especially with all of Emma’s victories, as well as Milo’s top ten performances. More importantly, however, the whole country is aware of the poor winter we’ve had in Nova Scotia this year, which earned our skiers a lot of respect for all of their performances throughout the week” … Daniel Murray, Head Coach, NS Ski Team

Articles:

“Archibald, McClure win medals at Nordic Ski Nationals“, The Chronicle Herald

2023 Nationals – Day 1, Saturday March 11, interval start free

ATHLETE	F/M	EVENT	DISTANCE	PLACE	TIME	DIFF
Emma Archibald P/N	F	P/N	7.5 km	1/2	27:29.8	—
Lynden Doyon	M	U16	7.5 km	30/85	20:59.5	+1:42.8
Cohen Norman	M	U18	7.5 km	48/104	20:27.3	+9:04.3
Milo Sircom-Brown	M	U18	7.5km	25/104	19:42.3	+8:19.3
Ogen Newcomb	M	U23	10 km	23/42	27:55.8	+4:23.7

2023 Nationals – Day 2, Sunday March 12, free technique sprint time trial, followed by heats

ATHLETE	F/M	EVENT	DISTANCE	PLACE	TIME	DIFF	Q	TIME
Ogen Newcomb	M	U23	1.2 km	25/42	3:09.9	+20.24

2023 Nationals – Day 3, Monday, March 13, free technique sprint time trial, followed by heats

ATHLETE	F/M	EVENT	KM	QUALIFIER PLACE	TIME	DIFF	Q	TIME	S	TIME	F	TIME	FINAL RESULTS
Emma Archibald P/N	F	P/N	1 km	1/2	3:15.2						1/2	3:28.99	1/2
Lynden Doyon	M	U16	1 km	34/85	2:47.83
Cohen Norman	M	U18	1 km	52/104	2:41.09
Milo Sircom-Brown	M	U18	1 km	21/106	2:31.54	+8:61	1/6	2:27.01	5/6	2:24.73			9/106

2023 Nationals – Day 4, Tuesday, March 14, club team sprint classic technique time trial followed by heats

View Zone4 for additional resultsdetails

TEAM		EVENT	DISTANCE	PLACE	TIME	DIFF
Emma Archibald		P/N Standing	900 m	1/2	2:54.74	—
Co’h n Lo	Cohen Norman Milo Sircom-Brown	Challenge Boys A	900 m	15/15	13:09.8	+1:02.6
Speed Deamons 1 & 2	Julien Smith Lynden Doyon	Exhibition Team	900 m	1/18	4:00.73	—
Coastal Ravens	Ogen Newcomb Colin Ward	CCUNC	900 m	4/13	25:27.8	+2:07.3

2023 Nationals – Day 5, Thursday, March 16, mass start classic

ATHLETE	F/M	EVENT	DISTANCE	PLACE	TIME	DIFF
Emma Archibald P/N	F	P/N	10 km	1/2	38:44.8	—
Lynden Doyon	M	U16	10 km	38/85	30:26.7	+2:20.0
Cohen Norman	M	U18	15 km	63/103	41:06.8	5:25.1
Milo Sircom-Brown	M	U18	15 km	33/103	38:51.2	+3:09.5