Lakehead Thunderwolves Nordic Ski Team Win Gold and Silver in the Men’s Team Sprint at the Nordic Canada Ski Nationals

March 14, 2023 – Thunder Bay, ON – Lakehead University Thunderwolves

For Immediate Release

The Lakehead Thunderwolves Nordic Ski team have enjoyed the home turf advantage this week as the 2023 Nordic Canada Ski Nationals were held in Thunder Bay at the Lappe Ski Centre. The week-long event has been jam packed with action so far. Over 600 athletes are competing in this penultimate event in the annual Nordic Canada race calendar. Fresh off of their OUA Championship victory in Huntsville a couple of weeks ago, the Lakehead skiers are looking for more. The Lakehead Men’s team is in contention for the CCUNC (Canadian Colleges and University Nordic Championship) title as national champions through 4 days of action.

Lakehead Skiers Conor McGovern and Erikson Moore (the Lakehead 1 team) led the way from start to finish during Tuesday’s CCUNC Men’s Team Sprint. The pair picked up the gold medal with a time of 23:20.5, finishing more than a full minute ahead of the rest of the field. Lakehead was able to complete the 1-2 finish when the team of Alexander Randall and Erik Schlyter crossed the line with a time of 24:26.6. 

It was a quick start from Moore that gave the Lakehead 1 team the lead. The duo never looked back as they cruised to victory. The silver medal performance saw a much closer race as the Lakehead 2 team were battling hard and constantly swapping positions with the eventual bronze medalists from Nippissing. Schlyter crossed the line just 1.6 seconds ahead of Alexander Maycock from Nipissing.

All four of the Lakehead Men’s teams picked up top 10 finishes as the team of Patrick Wiss and Noah Connell skied their way to a 7th place finish with a time of 26:16.3. Benjamin Osorio and Luke Pollex managed to put together a time of 26:37.1, good for 8th overall.

On the women’s side, Alex Scheifele and Sarah Lutes were able to pick up a 10th place finish with a time of 33:54.0. The pair fought hard but couldn’t keep pace with the race leaders from the University of Calgary.

The athletes have been in action since Saturday with competitions running through Friday. Erikson Moore started the week off on the right foot for the Thunderwolves, picking up a second place finish among CCUNC competitors in Saturday’s Interval Start Free Technique race. Connor McGovern finished 8th while Erik Schlyter finished in 10th. Alex Scheifele and Sarah Lutes finished 31st and 32nd, respectively, in the women’s race.

On Sunday, the teams were competing in the CCUNC 1.3km race. Erikson Moore once again crossed the line first to win the category with a time of 2:49.66, just 0.8 seconds ahead of second place skier from Laval. Erik Schlyter finished in 3rd for Lakehead with a time of 2:52.61. 

The CCUNC wraps up with the Mass Start Classic race on Friday. Skiing is scheduled to start at 9:00am.