NCO Athletes Return from U19 Nationals in Alberta

Congratulations to the five National Capital Outaouais (NCO) Ski team athletes who participated in the SportCheck U19 National Championships at Nakiska in Kananaskis, Alberta last week!

Nicole Clarke, Helen Hume, Aidan Marler, Alex Duff and Sam Duff participated in the seven-day event that saw everything from excellent conditions under bluebird skies, to fog and strong headwinds, and a dump of fresh powder. The field included 50 women and 76 men.

The event kicked off on February 27 and 28 with two days of downhill training on Mapmaker (the 1988 Olympic track), followed by two FIS Downhill Races on March 1 and 2. With limited downhill terrain in the east, the race marked the first FIS downhill races for some of the NCO athletes.

On March 3, the athletes participated in the National Super G Championship race, also on the Mapmaker run.

The next day, March 4, saw the unfortunate cancellation of the Giant Slalom due to the conditions - 20 cm of fresh powder had fallen overnight making the course unsafe.

Events concluded on March 5 with the National Junior Championships for Slalom which had some excellent results from former NCO athletes despite the soft snow and various delays due to timing issues. Hunter Watson, former NCO athlete and current Ontario team member, came second in the men's race; Abby Thomas, former NCO athlete and current Quebec team member, came 4th in the ladies' race.

The races were covered live by Shaw TV and are available on YouTube at the following links. (Note - not all runs or portions of races were covered.)
***

Results for Current NCO Athletes from the 2017 U19 National Championships at Nakiska

March 1 FIS Race Downhill
Nicole Clarke - 9th U19
Helen Hume - 22nd U19
Aidan Marler - 10th U19
Alex Duff - 32nd U19
Sam Duff - 51st U19
March 2 FIS Race Downhill
Nicole Clarke - 11th U19
Helen Hume - 20th U19
Aidan Marler - 11th U19
Alex Duff - 27th U19
Sam Duff - 44th U19

March 3 Super G - National Championships

Helen Hume - 14th U19
Nicole Clarke - 15th U19
Aidan Marler - 25th U19
Sam Duff - 50th U19

March 4 - National Junior Championships GS (U19) - CANCELLED

March 5 - National Junior Championships Slalom (U19)

Sam Duff - 6th U19