Ontario’s best high-school-aged nordic skiing athletes will be visiting the Collingwood area for the upcoming Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association (OFSAA) championships.
Collingwood Collegiate Institute (CCI) is hosting the championship event this year at Duntroon's Highlands Nordic in Clearview Township.
CCI teacher and head coach of the school’s nordic team, Bill Hewitt, is the championship convener.
The OFSAA championships will include more than 600 athletes from 200 high schools across Ontario, according to a news release issued by OFSAA.
CCI skiers will be among them vying for a place on the podium. Last season, the Collingwood high school's nordic team won six OFSAA championship banners at the competition in Sudbury. The local team was the top school for junior and senior girls in the distance and relay events. The CCI senior boys team also won the sprint relay race, earning CCI the champion of the senior combined category.
This year, the CCI team continues its winning streak.
According to Hewitt, the team had a strong showing at the Georgian Bay Secondary School Association (GBSSA) championships earlier this month. That event was also at Highlands Nordic. The CCI team earned championships in junior girls, junior boys, senior girls, and won the senior and junior combined championships. All the CCI teams competing in the GBSSA championships finished first or second place. You can see the results here.
Several Barrie athletes also turned in top-10 finishes at GBs. In the junior boys open, Eastview's Eric Good and Colt Penrose finished sixth and seventh, respectively. In the senior girls 5.5-kilometre free, Eastview's Sierra Macdonald was second, followed by Harrington Kleign from St. Joseph's in ninth and Eastview's Amber Fisher in 10th. In the senior boys 7.5K free, Eastview's Reid Kidner finished second and Bear Creek's CJ Buelow was seventh.
The OFSAA championships take place at Highlands Nordic in Duntroon from Feb. 27 to March 1. Distance races take place on Feb. 28 and sprint relay races will take place March 1. Live results will be posted at Zone4.ca.
