Nishikawa good as gold early in ski nationals

Emily Nishikawa emerged as the skier to beat early on at the Canadian cross-country ski nationals, winning her second gold medal in as many days on Sunday, March 13.

Nishikawa won the five kilometre free skate in 14:45.3, less than a second ahead of her nearest competitior, solidifying her stature on the domestic ski scene.

Brittany Webster of the Highlands Trailblazers Ski Club was second (14:46.8), followed by Canmore Nordic’s Annika Hicks (14:47.6).

Hicks, 19, a junior skater racing against senior women, was thrilled with her medal performance; adding her bronze to a silver medal she won in the team sprint a day before.

“I’m in shock. I know I’m in good shape, but I didn’t expect to contend with the top women,” Hicks said. “I was thinking top eight would be amazing, but I’m super happy with this.”

Hicks kept a steady pace, learning from mistakes made on the men’s side.

“Some of the men went too hard, so I took it conservative and put the push on in the second lap,” she said.

The technique obviously worked, as Hicks soared to the bronze.

Unlike many of the top skiers on the day, Nishikawa and Hicks took part in the team sprint the day before and didn’t have fresh legs for the five-km race. Hicks prefers distance races to sprinting, but wants to race as much as possible this week.

“I definitely felt it yesterday (Saturday), but I went to bed early,” Hicks said.

Another Canmore junior skier also impressed the crowd. Competing against skiers more than 14 years her senior, 15-year-old Maya MacIsaac-Jones finished 11th, one minute behind the top-place finisher. MacIsaac-Jones tweaked her training after the prep race in Canmore last week.

“This week, all the training was bang on. I felt very ready to go,” she said.

The older competitors only serve to motivate MacIsaac-Jones, who did not appear to be intimidated.

“It’s very exciting to be able to compete with these amazing racers. It pushes me a lot harder and helps give me a lot of drive. It’s very exciting,” she said.

She stuck with a winning formula by taking it easy on the first lap.

“It felt great. My technique felt strong; I didn’t feel like I died on the second lap. On the very top of the hill I tried to push as hard as I could. The person who pushes the best at the top gets the best glide and the rest of the race is easier,” MacIsaac-Jones said.

Alysson Marshall finished fourth, followed by Canadian national biathlon team member Megan Imrie. Imrie is competing in the ski nationals as a warm-up before the Canadian biathlon championships next week. She’s testing her fitness after struggling with injuries most of the season.

American Chelsea Holmes (14:32.1), skiing for Sugar Bowl Academy, was actually the fastest skier on the day, however Nishikawa was awarded the title because of nationality.

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