Travis Pete skied to two podium finishes at the Teck BC Cup #2 in Kelowna Jan. 12 and 13.
Three Bulkley Valley Cross Country Ski Club racers attended the competition, with many skiers out due to sickness.
The first day featured a classic technique individual sprint, consisting of a qualifying round to determine seeding and heat sprints following, with the top two advancing to the next heat.
Pete claimed gold in the Midget boy’s division on Day 1 in the 400-metre event, Gabriel Price placed eighth in the Junior boy’s 1.2-km race and Rachel Cuell was 18th in the Bantam girl’s 250-metre event.
On day two, in the Interval Start Skate Race, Price placed second in the Junior boy’s 10-km event,
Pete finished second in the Midget boy’s 4-km race and Cuell was 20th in the Bantam girl’s 2-km category.
“On a hilly course with aggressive high speed downhills to Bulkley Valley racers came out on top with two podiums [on day two] and each athlete achieving personal bests all weekend,” BV Cross Country Ski Club head coach Chris Werrell said.
“The conditions were cold and hard packed, Saturday was -15 and Sunday was -11.”
Biathlon
Fourteen-and-a-half hours in the car did little to dampen the resolve of Bulkley Valley Biathlon club members as they travelled to Whistler for BC Cup 1 on Jan. 19 and 20.
Four club members made the journey, coming home to Smithers with five podium finishes.
“Conditions were awesome,” head coach Peter Tweedie said.
“It was sunny and the snow was great.”
Saturday, during the Sprint event, Angus Tweedie placed second in the Sr. Boys division, Lea-Marie Bowes-Lyon (Master’s division) earned second-place and Amanda Wilson and Lowell Hug both finished fifth.
Start times for Sunday’s longer Pursuit event were determined by the finish order from the previous day’s Sprint race.
Three BV racers ended up on the podium: Angus and Bowes-Lyon captured the top spot in their divisions and Hug secured silver.
Wilson followed closely behind with a fifth-place finish.
“Overall, they were a really focused group,” Tweedie said.
“They had great shooting, the skiing was really fast and they all showed a lot of improvement.”