High school Nordic skiing star making all the right strides

Cross-country skiing at the competitive level forms a big part of Anna Towle’s life.

The 17-year-old Superior Heights Collegiate student started learning how to ski at the age of four and has been competing as a member of the Soo Finnish Nordic Ski Club since she was in Grade 4.

More recently, since cross-country skiing made a return as a high school sport, she has competed in city, NOSSA and OFSSA events.

“It started as something I would look forward to every Saturday," Towle told SooToday. "It was a treat to go skiing. All my friends did it. It was something social. Then I got into training for competitions."

In her cross-country ski racing career, Towle has finished first overall for senior girls at the city level and gone on to compete at NOSSA and OFSSA events.

Her many out-of-town competitions include the Ontario Winter Games in Barrie as a member of the Soo Finnish Nordic Ski Club team in 2020 and, as a high school athlete, at the OFSAA Nordic Skiing Championship in Lakefield, Ontario in February 2023.

She was a part of the Soo Finnish Nordic Ski Club team that won a championship banner for achieving the highest score over the course of the weekend at the Ontario Youth Championships in Timmins in March 2020.

“The training doesn’t really end,” she said of the dry land training in the summer months.

During that time, Towle roller skis and runs in the Gros Cap area, on the Hub Trail and also in the Whitepine Court area north of Fourth Line.

“I train all year round. Some weeks there may be one less practice but I’ll still train on my own.”

Stating that her parents and brother have been a great source of support, Towle competes in up to four cross-country races a year out-of-town but said that the driving is worth it.

“I like the distances in cross-country racing. I think it’s not only learning how to do a skill but you’re learning how to train yourself mentally as well. I’m pretty proud of all my races,” Towle said.

As she approaches high school graduation, Towle has her eye on studying kinesiology at Laurentian University.

Will she compete in cross-country skiing at the varsity level?

“That’s my hope right now," Towle said. "I don’t think I’ll ever stop skiing."

She said her first major out-of-town race this season will be in North Bay in the Ontario Cup Race in January.

“Skiing makes me happy. When I train I get to see my friends. It’s an extra positive to life in general.”