Ski Runners racing through championship events

NEWS RELEASE

SEARCHMONT SKI RUNNERS

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Racers from Searchmont Ski Runners (SSR) have been busy over the past month competing in provincial and divisional championships, as well as preparing for the upcoming 2007 K1 Ontario Provincial Championships which are being hosted by Searchmont Ski Runners from March 15th through to and including March 17th at Searchmont Resort.

The following racers competed at the 2007 K2 Ontario Provincial Championships which were held in Thunder Bay from February 26th to March 1st: Iain Hutchison, Devin Labelle, Nicole Foster and Meaghan Horbatuk.

Scott Smith, K1/K2 SSR Coach commented, "I thought that the team performed well against the best in the province. The snow conditions were very similar to that of the World Cup – icy, hard, fast and very tricky to ski well. Iain Hutchison was our top finisher and Devin Labelle was so close to cracking into those top spots. Meaghan Horbatuk and Nicole Foster did very well as first year K2's and gained valuable experience to build on for next year. I couldn't be prouder of my team and the way they represented the Northern Ontario Division."

The SSR Nancy Greene team completed this past weekend in Sudbury for the Northern Ontario Division Nancy Greene Cup. The Nancy Greene Ski League is a race league for athletes 6-11 years of age and this is the chief race event for the season. The race is a team based event with points assigned by two races, each a two run combined finish result. SSR were successful for the second year in a row in winning this cup.

The team members who participated in this race were: Charlie Dunton, Justin and Nathan Hunt, Connor and Liam Brechin, Ryan Zago, Lindsay Virene, Jeffrey Horbatuk, Jonathan Kidd and Jacques Tiessen. Unfortunately missed at this event, but, critical to the team are: Palmer and Chandler Simpson and Colleen and Allison Hutchison. The coaches for SSR's Nancy Greene team are Dave Derbyshire, Mya Park, Graeme Hutchison and George Payne.

Mya Park commented that "As a coach I would like to say that the athletes all skied amazing and did a wonderful job at representing and competing as Searchmont Ski Runners. I will speak for the other coaches and parents when I say that these young athletes did themselves and the ski club very proud. All of their hardwork, persistence and dedication throughout the season certainly paid off for the entire team at this final event." SSR is very excited and honoured to be hosting approximately 145 of Ontario's top 11 and 12 year old racers this week for the 2007 K1 Ontario Provincial Championships. This is a 3 day event starting on Thursday March 15th with a Giant Slalom race, a Slalom race on Friday and Kombi race on Saturday.

The following K1 racers from SSR will be participating in this race: Graham Pavelich, Kaili Labelle, and Kathryn Willet.

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