Youth trumps experience in ski team spring

Canada’s young guns exacted some revenge on seasoned national team veterans Stefan Kuhn and Phil Widmer during the first big race of the Canadian Ski Nationals on Sunday, March 13.

Kevin Sandau and Brent McMurtry knocked off favourites Kuhn and Widmer in the team sprint final, edging the veterans by six-tenths of a second to grab the first open men’s gold medal of the competition.

Kuhn and Widmer, considered Canada’s top sprinters, recently returned from the world championships in Oslo, Norway to compete in the event. They won the team sprint last year representing Canmore Nordic Ski Club, however McMurtry (Widmer’s training partner on the national team) and Sandau, skiing for Foothills Nordic, reclaimed the title.

“It’s usually Foothills versus Canmore Nordic in the final. They got us last year and we wanted to reclaim it,” McMurtry said.

“Today he (McMurtry) got me, so I owe him one,” Widmer said.

Sandau, 22, is widely considered one of Canada’s brightest young prospects and is a member of the Alberta World Cup Academy, while McMurtry, 24, is trying to bounce back from a string of inconsistent results that cost him an invite to the world championships.

Against a strong field, Sandau was able to break things open with a phenomenal third lap. McMurtry took the lead on the final lap, and held off a charge from Widmer and third-place finisher Gerard Garnier.

“It was a little bit windy up top. We thought we’d stay back the first couple of laps then make a move in the last couple laps. Kevin made a push on the third lap. I stayed behind Phil, I stayed strong and smooth and felt pretty confident,” McMurtry said.

The race came down to the last 100 metres, where McMurtry had the legs.

“That’s the way the event goes. All the energy you’re able to save on the course comes into play.” McMurtry said.

“I was hoping to give Brent a bit of a lead, but lost all my speed on the downhill. Coming into the tag area, I was second or third; I gave it to Brent to do the magic at the end,” Sandau said.

Sandau, the brother of former Olympic cross-country skier Rhonda Jewett, hopes to build on the success he had at the Canada Winter Games in Halifax last month.

“I’ve never had a medal at the national championship as a junior or senior in the individual races. This is a good start. I hope to grab one this week,” Sandau said.

McMurtry hopes to salvage what has been a tough year.

“This season has been pretty disappointing, missing the world championships. There hasn’t been a lot of other races since then. Hopefully, I can race well here,” he said.

The strong field contained several of the nation’s top domestic skiers and biathletes (including Scott Gow and Aaron Gilmour), however Kuhn and Widmer said they knew what they were up against.

“I probably race Brent twice a week,” said Widmer, who later added he should have waited on his final push.

“It’s always fun here, but we did just come from the world championships,” Kuhn said. “But you always want to do well here.”

Garnier and Matt Wylie finished third and brothers Anthony and Graeme Killick finished fourth.