Morning Star Staff
Rain and wet conditions were the story of the B.C. cross country ski championships at Whistler’s Olympic facility.
The first day of racing was wet and grey, and he rain made for tough conditions for the sprint event, creating very heavy snow, but Vernon’s Sovereign Lake skiers persevered.
Making it through to the finals were brothers Dawson Bond and Mitchell Bond, who were the only younger-aged skiers to make the A final in their respective categories, both with sixth-place finishes.
Paige Latta was third in her A final while Ian Oliphant grabbed first in the B final.
Eric Embleton also cinched a place in the A final, finishing sixth, while teammates Carson Basset and Aidan Andrews took second and fifth, respectively, in their B final.
Michelle Metza took second in her B final followed by Samantha Lowen with a sixth-place result.
The rain eased for Day 2, and the sun made its way through the cloud, drying out the spirits of participants and spectators, but unfortunately not the snow.
Adding to the soggy conditions was a challenging course for the classic event, with gruelling climbs and steep, technical descents.
Again, Sovereign Lake skiers showed their tenacity with more strong finishes, including a second place for Dawson Bond, a first for brother Mitchell, and a first as well for their father, Glenn Bond.
Oliphant and master skier Paul Hardy also made it to the podium with third-place finishes.
The final day of skiing saw great combined efforts in the three-person relay.
Team names like ‘The Soggy Bottom Boys’ and ‘Fifty Shades of Wet’ reflected the overall feeling of the weekend conditions.
It was team ‘In-Sync’, with skiers Latta, Clara Hardy and Metza that recorded Sovereign’s best showing with their fifth-place finish in the Junior Women’s event.
During the end of season awards ceremony some of Sovereign’s familiar names took home top honour aggregates, including Dawson Bond as the second overall winner in his age group, Mitchell Bond with first and Ian Oliphant with second.
Master skier Chris Andrews was also recognized with the second-place aggregate award, stating that it was really just an attendance award, “for showing up at all the races.”