Joey Payeur
When something is the first of its kind, it retains a special kind of significance that lasts through the ages.
So will be the case for the Muskie Nordic skiing team, which hosted its inaugural home meet last Wednesday at the Rainy Lake Nordic Ski Club trails on Rocky Inlet.
“The ski club and coaches were all excited to be able to host the meet,” Muskie co-coach Rebecca Himanen said about the five-school gathering for the second and final exhibition meet before the NorWOSSA finals Feb. 1 in Kenora.
“It was a great opportunity to showcase our facilities and to compete in familiar territory,” she noted.
“By all accounts, it was a huge success.”
Emma Toriseva was the highest finisher among the 12-person Muskie contingent—motoring her way to third place in the Grade 7-8 girls’ division with a time of 21:36 over the 2.8-km course.
Teammate Jaida Norris made her first-ever ski race one to remember by capturing fourth place (23:24) behind winner Shayna Hensrud of the Kenora Broncos (16:37).
“Emma, though in Grade 7, would have placed third in junior girls [Grade 9-10], as well,” Himanen said.
“She has a lot of power, but there is still so much we can do to help her improve her technique to help with
shaving minutes off her time,” she noted.
“Jaida just started with us over Christmas, and the leaps and bounds she has made in such a short time are impressive,” Himanen added.
“Her technique is already good, but we will add more to her repertoire so she can maximize her efforts in any terrain and condition.
“She will be a skier to watch this year and the coming years.
“Now that she has had her first race experience, it will no doubt fuel her drive to improve as the first race [in Dryden] did for the others,” said Himanen.
Other Muskies in the 14-skier Grade 7-8 girls’ group included Haleigh DeGagne in eighth (29:13), Aara Kabatay in ninth (29:34), Kenzie Begin in 10th (30:23), Rhyan McLean in 12th (33:53), Mia-Lee Wilson taking 13th (43:25), and Hannah Anderson coming in 14th (44:01).
Tori Toriseva, the older half of the sibling duo, landed in fourth place in the seven-skier junior girls’ category with a clocking of 23:51 over the 2.8-km route behind winner Elise Hummelbrunner of the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints (13:20).
“Tori has the potential to make it to OFSAA as a junior girl, as does Angie Redford, who wasn’t able to compete this week,” said Himanen.
“For them as well, it’s more technique to increase their efficiency in every sort of terrain,” the coach added.
“There is still a lot to learn and no doubt significant improvements to make.”
In the senior girls’ division, Sara Selman was sixth in the seven-skier field of the 3.9-km event with a mark of 40:20.
Fellow Muskie Tayla Trimble was seventh (59:05) as Claire Poulin of the Atikokan Voyageurs took top spot (22:42).
Meanwhile, Caleb Dueck, the only male Muskie who competed last Wednesday, finished ninth (32:42) out of 10 starters in the 5.6-km race, with Eric Williams of Atikokan claiming one of four Voyageurs’ titles on the day (29:18).
The bitterly cold weather, which almost froze the meet in its tracks before it even got off the start line, couldn’t cool the competitive fire of the black-and-gold.
“Minus-20 C [before windchill] is the cut-off and we were sitting within a degree of that at start time,” noted Himanen.
“But you would never know it by the enthusiasm emanating from everyone.
“It could have been a balmy minus-two,” she chuckled.
“Our team, as seems common around the region, is a group of enthusiastic individuals who just want to get out there,” she remarked.
The Muskies’ individual times, in general, were slower than at the opening meet of the year in Dryden thanks to the conditions.
“With temperatures combined with the recent amounts of snow that fell, it was inevitable that it would be a little slower for everyone,” Himanen reasoned.
“Those conditions tend to affect everyone equally, but attitudes were still very positive and competitors seemed to really enjoy the workout,” she stressed.
“There was definitely no shortage of smiles as skiers crossed the finish line and mingled in the chalet or by the fire afterwards.”
Other variations from the setting in Dryden also came into play last Wednesday.
“It’s hard to compare times because distances were different,” Himanen noted.
“Rocky Inlet has far more hills than the Dryden course, which makes things more challenging, and temperatures were more favourable for better glide in Dryden.”
The NorWOSSA finals now beckon, with Himanen entering the meet balancing reasonable expectations while sowing the seeds for future benefits.
“As this is only our second year running a team, and first for almost all of our skiers, it is clear we are very much in a building year,” she conceded.
“We are going to be competing with teams that have had the benefit of years of youth skiing programs.
“That said, we are excited about the early potential our skiers are showing,” Himanen said.
“We have a handful of skiers who are looking to place at NorWOSSA and our results the other day confirm they are in a position to do it,” she noted.
“We are excited about that.
“The potential in this team this year and in the coming years is tremendous,” added Himanen.
“Honestly, though, as coaches of an individual sport, we are just as excited about seeing students who aren’t likely to place set goals and improve and have a great time doing it,” she enthused.
“You never know—those students might be our strongest a year or two down the road.”
