Smith finishes third in 30km race at Canadian Ski Nationals

Oxenden's Julian Smith participated in four races at the 2023 Canadian Ski Nationals hosted by Lappe Nordic Center in Thunder Bay from March 11 to 17.

Smith, competing for both National Team Development Centre (NTDC) and his home club Georgian Bay Nordic, and having recently returned from World Championships in Slovenia, had caught a nasty cold and was not fully recovered during the national competition.

On March 11 the senior men raced a 10-kilometre skate course. Smith placed seventh in a time of 25:09.9.

On March 12, Smith raced the 1.3-kilometre sprint qualifier in 2:54.54, placing 13th. This qualified him for the quarter-finals. Next, in the semi-finals, Smith's ski was stepped on causing his binding to rip away. Smith finished this heat on one ski but did not make it to the finals.

Club Team sprints were held on March 14. Smith did not have a club teammate, so he raced the exhibition race with Lyndon Doyen from Nova Scotia. Each athlete raced the 800-metre classic course three times, tagging off each time. The duo won handily in a time of 12:30.

On March 17 the classic 50-kilometre race was reduced to a 30-kilometre course due to a blizzard. Smith placed third in a time of 1:35:09.06

For full results visit https://zone4.ca/event/2023/E39212D4/.

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