Ontario Ski Team 2011/2012

This year the Ontario Ski Team is comprised of the top 19 athletes from across Ontario. They are a pretty swell gang- but don’t take MY word for it…

To learn more about how to qualify for the OST check out the OST criteria documentwhich can also be found on the CCO website at www. xco.org

Moira Haggerty [Lakehead University, Big Thunder]

My name is Moira Haggarty. I am a student at Lakehead University and ski for the Thunderwolves Varsity Ski Team.  A highlight of my ski career has been qualifying 3rd in the Classic Sprints at Canmore Nationals last year. From the five races, I was 8th aggregate for my year of birth!  An EPIC workout I’ve done was a “fun-backwards-triathlon” this past summer with my sister Daphne and ski friend Steph Drost 8, 13.  We started off running at Centennial Park, then we biked Lakeshore Drive and ended with a glorious swim in Lake Superior.  It was the perfect workout on a sunny summer day!  I love skiing because: skiers are such nice and fun people to be around; I love feeling so alive when I’m racing my heart out; and I love feeling strong and fit! See ya on the trails!

Liam Patterson [North Bay Nordic]

Hello my name is Liam Patterson, and my home club is North Bay Nordic. This will be my first year racing on the Ontario Ski Team and I am looking forward to an exciting year! Some highlights of last year were 6 top 3 finishes in the O-Cup circuit, an OFSAA bronze medal, a top fifteen at the Canadian Nationals and of course meeting the criteria to represent Ontario at this years races! Some interesting facts about myself are, I consider myself an artist, I am working towards my grade eight piano this year and I’m pretty much as awesome as you can get. So far being able to represent Ontario has been such a great learning experience and I hope I can have similar opportunities somewhere down the road.

Angus Foster [Big Thunder]

My name is Angus Foster,  I am 16 years old and I ski for Big Thunder Nordic. At the 2011 Nationals I won the Juvenile Boys Sprint and finished third Overall Aggregate. This season I am working on improving my endurance and distance skiing. My favorite workout is 10x10second sprints.

FUN FACT! I’m the messiest eater on the team.

Julian Freitag [Big Thunder]

I currently race for Big Thunder Nordic as a Junior Boy.  2011 I came second in the sprints at world junior trials and 7th in the sprints at nationals.  I am currently working on my endurance and maintaining a good stride length and keeping hips forward while striding.  FUN FACT I wear sunglasses more often than not.

Larkin Davenport Huyer [Highlands]

I am a grade 12 student at Mayfield Secondary School.  This is my third year skiing and my first time on the Ontario team.  I started high school racing in 2009, and did the O-cup circuit for the first time during the 2011 season.  If it had to be answered, my favorite part of skiing is racing.  Standing at that start line, adrenaline pumping, just you, the snow, and your skis.  I am currently working on technique in both classic and skate.  All in all, I live to have fun and skiing constantly keeps me entertained and will continue to be a favorite pastime.

Ben Wilkinson-Zan [Nakkertok]

My name is Benjamin Wilkinson-Zan and I ski for Nakkertok ski club. Its quite a mouthful so I aquired the nickname ‘Wuzzuzza’ from my peers and coaches. This is my first year on the Ontario ski team. I have been skiing since I was 3 years old. I have only been training with the intention to do well at high level races for 3 years. I always raced at the local races at my ski club but never put in any good results in terms of placing. 2 years ago, I qualified for nationals in Duntroon with a really great 5km classic race in North Bay. I was sick during nationals and as a result I didn’t have very good races. That made me realize that skiing was something I wanted to be more successful in and I really worked on my training. It definitely worked as this year at nationals I was 7th my age category and I won the overall aggreagte for 16 year old boys. My favourite workout is long tempo workouts as well as longer z4 intervals. This year I have been working on more long z1 skis and I have been doing some 4 hour skis with the older group at Nakkertok.

Sadie White [Big Thunder]

My name is Sadie White, I am fifteen years old, I live in Thunder Bay, and I ski with Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club. II have been skiing since I was about four  years old, which is practically my whole life. This is my first time on the Ontario Ski team. I LOVE  cross country skiing, there are so many things that I love about it. For example,  it is awesome to meet so many new people across the country, and maybe hopefully someday across the world. I have a great group of friends that I ski with who I have tons of fun with. I love traveling around for ski races, it is just so much fun, and I love the new experiences that I get to encounter. Another thing I love about skiing is the racing, I love how I feel before a race; excited but nervous, and ready to rock and roll! And after a race, I feel on op of the world. I love learning new things, I have been working  a lot on my classic technique, which I must say is definitely improving. f I am not skiing I am “chillin with my homies”. And one day I aspire to travel all over the world. All in all, I love pretty much everything about skiing, and it makes my life so much better, and much more enjoyable!!!!!!!!!!

Shelby Dickey [Highlands]

My name is Shelby Dickey. I am 17 years old and this is my second year on the provincial team. Apparently I could ski before I could walk, and I ski for the Highlands Trailblazers. In the past few years there are several results that I am proud of including several silver and bronze medals at the Ocups. My favorite workouts include epic climbs, long z3 uphill intervals, and 4x4min hill bounding intervals. I am a celiac, and also lactose, soy and citrus free. Goals for the future years include pursuing skiing as far as possible, and to backpack across Europe. Favorite athletes include Petter Northug, Marit Bjoergen, Petra Majdic, Marcus Hellner, and Dario Cologna. Racing is one of the biggest thrills of life. I can’t be in a quiet room, I always like to have music blaring for everything. Homework, skiing, walking around town I need music. For ski racing I have one song that I only listen to on race days to emphasis the adrenaline rush of racing. Memorable quotes to get pumped up: Never Look Back, Dream like you are going to live forever, live like you are going to die tomorrow, Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain, Play like it means nothing, especially when it means everything.

Jenn Jackson [Hardwood]

Hi, my name is Jenn Jackson.   My birth date is February 20, 1995.  I’m a first year junior girl skiing for Team Hardwood.  This is my also my first year on the OST.  My best results coming out of last season were my races at Nationals.  I finished fifth in aggregate and had placing of 5th, 7th, 9th and 13th in each of my individual races.  Aside from napping, my favorite work out would probably be either core strength or 4x4minute double pole intensity.  Outside of skiing I run cross country, track and play basketball.  I’ve been to OFSAA nine times and my goal is to make it twelve times before the end of grade twelve.

Daphne Haggerty [Lakehead University, Big Thunder]

My name is Daphne Haggarty and I am from Thunder Bay. I am a member of the Ontario Ski Team, 3rd year member of Lakehead University’s Nordic Ski Team, and lifer of Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club. The highlight of my skiing career so far has been winning the gold in the team relays at OUAs in 2011 and placing 6th aggregate University at Nationals 2011 in Whitehorse. One of my most memorable workouts happened at Lappe Nordic Ski Centre – 3x Kluuki Line, and 3x Pilons/Grunt…zone 4! It was killer but I felt invincible scaling those mountains! I love skiing because of the variety in technique, terrain, race distances, race format, and the challenges that all of this brings! I am constantly working to improve and there is always more to learn! One thing that I am working on right now is finding that moment of bliss in every workout and race, because it makes it all worth it, no matter the outcome.

Madison Fraser [North Bay Nordic]

My name is Madison Fraser, and I ski with the North Bay Nordic ski club. My proudest skiing result was at Nationals, in 2011, when I finished 9^th in the 7.5km skate. My proudest provincial was result was in Thunder Bay, where I finished in 2^nd place. This year I have been working a lot on my classic technique, specifically double poling. One of my favourite workouts to do is a core circuit. When I am not ski training, I compete in Track and Field, X-Country running, and horse-back riding. Fun fact about me: my fingers are double jointed.

Matthias Purdon [GBN, XC Ottawa]

My name is Matthias Purdon and I have been skiing for as long as I could make memories. Some of my racing highlights include a 2^nd place finish in the Gatineau Loppet 50km classic [2011], 13^th at Nationals in the 50km skate and 3^rd as the overall University skier in Canada [2011]. My biggest workout last summer was a marathon from Ukululet to Tofino [BC], in the morning with a quick transition to a 2.5h hike up Lone Cone Mountain. Seeing how far you ran along with the view from the top of a mountain is pretty great! I teach sailing in the summer and hope to be back on the University racing circuit soon.

Colin Foley [Nakkertok]

My name is Colin. I began skiing with Nakkertok at the age of seven. My first medal was from the Nakkertok Cookie Race. I played hockey until the age of fourteen but I have made the decision to pursue skiing and make it my main focus. Skiing is the best.

Ben Jones [Big Thunder]

I have only been skiing seriously for two years- but I have been skiing since I was three years old. I am from Pembroke and always raced the local races at my ski club. Later on I raced at the Ontario Winter games and Easterns but never put in any extremely good results. Three years ago I joined Nakkertok and qualified for Nationals in Duntroon with the best race of my life in the 5kn classic race at North Bay. My first race I was dead last. I realized then skiing was something I really wanted to do better so I really put some serious effort into it. This year I did much better placing 7^th at Nationals and 1^st for my age. I focused more this year on long Z1 workouts including some challenging 4h skis with the older Nakkertok athletes.

David Ek [Big Thunder]

I have been and am hoping to be a very successful person in whatever I do. Music has been an integral part of my life thus far. I have been planning the violin ever since I was 5 years old, and have developed considerable talent with it placing top 3 at a few music festivals and recently completing my grade 8 exam. Cross country skiing has been very big in my life as well for the past 4 years I have been racing. Last year I placed first in the classic sprint at the WJT/O-Cup at Lappe and placed within the top 3 for all other O Cup races. This, I believe has been the product of hard work and dedication to the sport and I believe I have shown great potential through all my training. I also qualified to be on the Ontario Team this year as a result of my hard work which I believe speaks to itself in terms of my accomplishment.

Scott Hill [Hardwood]

My name is Scott Hill, I am 17 and I ski for the Team Hardwood Ski Team. I Live in Toronto and have been skiing since I was 4. My favourite workout, other than races, is zone 3 ski striding in a big group. I especially like doing this workout when it’s pouring rain because it makes it that much more epic. Some of my best results happened at World Junior trials in 2011 where I was 3^rd in the classic sprints and 1^st in the 15km skate for junior boys. When I am not training I like to be playing other sports. Some of my skiing goals are to make the world junior team, win a nationals metal and to eventually ski on the Canadian world cup team. My favourite things about cross country skiing are the people I get to ski with, the camps, snow and the fun of racing fast.