The Strathcona Nordic ski team had three days of racing at the B.C. championships in Prince George, March 4-6 — the third and final event of the Teck BC Cup series.
Strathcona had five athletes on the podium for the mass start classic race on Day 1. Amelia Moore won gold in the U12 girls category. Ben and Gillian Galik wons silvers in U12 and U14 respectively. Carly Ram U16 and Anna Chatterton U18 earned bronze medals.
The second day was an interval start (race against the clock) using free technique. The skiers from Mt. Washington finished the day with seven medals. Amelia and Ben finished atop the podium, while Carly also won gold. Anna and Gavin Chatterton won silvers. Jakob Kainz U18 and Gillian won bronze medals.
The weekend finished with relays of three-person teams. In U14 girls, Tal tal and the gals (Talia McPhail-McGrady, Amelia Moore and Gillian Galik) skied a close race to finish with the silver medal. In U14 boys, The Wacky Waldos (Ben Galik, Jaycee Harmatiuk and Gray Tunnah) finished 14th. Mads Ann-A Car Car (Maddie Galik, Anna Chatterton and Carly Ram) were fourth for U20 girls. The Chatterbox boys (Rory Bratrud, Gavin Chatterton and Jakob Kainz) finished eighth in U20 boys.
The Teck BC Cup Aggregate awards — based on top four performances of each athlete, of six possible races from the series — were distributed for each year of birth. Strathcona, one of the small clubs in B.C., came home with seven awards: Amelia, Ben, Gillian and Anna (first), Carly and Ella Moore (secon) and Gavin (third).
“I had such a fun time this weekend racing with amazing athletes from all over B.C. I am so pumped to race at nationals next week and compete with skiers from all over the country,” Carly said.
The team competes at the national championships March 20-27 in Whistler.