Media Release

Canadian Cross-Country Ski Athletes Head into Holiday Break after Eastern Canada Cup in Quebec

December 19, 2022

MONT-SAINTE-ANNE, Que.—Hundreds of developing cross-country skiers took to the start line for a trio of races, December 16-18, at the Eastern Canada Cup in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Que.

The Eastern Canada Cup is one of three domestic Canada Cup race series events that took place over the last month. Athletes skiing in the Open categories lined up for their first 20-kilometre mass start skate-ski race, a sprint event, and a 10-kilometre individual classic-ski race.

Weekend Highlights:

Tory Audet (Chelsea, Que.) won double gold in the Open races at just 17-years-old. Audet sprinted to women’s gold, and was tops in the 10km individual start;
Audet was fastest in the U18 women’s mass start race;
Feilx-Olivier Moreau won gold in the men’s individual start and was second in the sprint on his home trails;
Helen McCulligh (Kanata Nordic) won her first 20km mass start race in the Open women’s category. A student at Carleton University, she also received the top CCUNC prize;
Quebec’s Marie Dubois celebrated two golds and one silver in the U16 girls races, winning the 5km and sprint races;
Min Dobson (Lappe Nordic) won two bronze medals in the U16 girls sprint and individual start race;
Paralympian Yves Bourque (ARSNM/Mauriski) won the men’s Para sit-ski 4km race;
Charles Lecours (ARSNM/Mauriski) won the men’s 4km Para standing race;

Athlete Quotes:
“I didn’t have much strategy going into this. I just wanted to see how it played out. The snow was deep on the hill but I’m happy.”
…Tory Audet

“Conditions were great. It felt awesome to be racing out here.”
…Ry Prior

“There was lots of snow coming down, so the tracks were disappearing. Idea was to keep things smooth, stay light on my feet and try to get as much out of each push as I could. That worked well. If you get sloppy in this kind of snow it gets pretty hard. My strategy worked and I feel like I was able to stay consistent in both and also have the kick that I wanted to go up the hills and push over the top.”
…Luke Allan

“The 20km mass start skate was really fast. It was my first 20k so I didn’t know what to expect going in. We had a really big group of girls that stuck together for a long time. It was really fun to work together with everyone out there and we were moving pretty speedy.”
…Helen McCulligh

“Skis were really fast, used it to my advantage. I really worked the downhills on the last lap. I felt pretty good compared to last weekend. It was nice to race at home, to see the crowd. The organizers did a really good job on this one.”
…Sasha Masson

Race Results:
Canada Cup – December 18: 10km Individual Classic

Open Women
1.Tory Audet (Club Chelsea Nordiq)
2. Bronwyn Williams (Nakkertok Nordique)
3. Hannah Shields (Lappe Nordic)

Open Men
1. Felix-Olivier Moreau (Mont-Sainte-Anne)
2. Nicolas Beaulieu (Orford)
3. .Mats Halvorsen (Nakkertok Nordique)

CCUNC Women
1. Tory Audet (CEGEP)
2. Bronwyn Williams (Carleton University)
3. Maggie McClure (Carleton University)

CCUNC Men
1. Felix-Olivier Moreau (CEGEP)
2. Nicolas Beaulieu (University of Sherbrooke)
3. Mats Halvorsen (CEGEP)

U20 Women
1. Tory Audet (Club Chelsea Nordiq)
2. Elie-Anne Tremblay (Skibec/CNEPH)
3. Ophélie Grandmont (Mont-Sainte-Anne)

U20 Men
1. Luke Allan (Nakkertok Nordic)
2. Alexis Ermel (Mont-Sainte-Anne)
3. Alexandre Cormier (Fondeurs-Laurentides)

U18 Girls
1. Isabelle Haag (Chelsea Nordiq)
2. Addison Frank (Nakkertok Nordic)
3. Mya Marshall (Chelsea Nordiq)

U18 Boys
1. Samuel Picard (Fondeurs-Laurentides
2. Mackenzie Samm (Chelsea Nordiq)
3. Tristan Grandmont (Mont-Sainte-Anne)

U16 Girls
1. Sofia Renaud (Mont-Sainte-Anne)
2. Marie Dubois (Mont-Sainte-Anne)
3. Min Dobson (Lappe Nordic)

U16 Boys
1. Albert Raymond (Mont-Sainte-Anne)
2. Thierry Olivier (Mont-Sainte-Anne)
3. Édouard Drolet (Mont-Sainte-Anne)

Canada Cup – December 18: 4km Individual

Para Nordic Sitting
1. Yves Bourque (ARSNM/Mauriski)
2. Erica Scarff Mono Nordic)
3. Catherine Vaillant (ARSNM/Mauriski)

Para Nordic Standing
1. Charles Lecours (ARSNM/Mauriski)
2. Félix Lafond (Fondeurs-Laurentides)

Canada Cup – December 17: Sprint
Open Women
1. Tory Audet (Club Chelsea Nordiq)
2. Bronwyn Williams (Nakkertok Nordique)
3. Katherie Mason (Nakkertok Nordique)

Open Men
1. Ry Prior (Club Chelsea Nordiq)
2. Felix-Olivier Moreau (Mont-Sainte-Anne)
3. Guillaume Pelchat (Pembroke Nordic)

CCUNC Women
1.Tory Audet (CEGEP-QC)
2. Helen McCulligh (Université Carleton)
3. Emmanuelle Simard (U Laval)

CCUNC Men
1. Ry Prior (Université de Calgary)
2. Felix-Olivier Moreau (CEGEP-QC)
3. Alexandre Cormier (CEGEP-QC)

U20 Women Qualification
1. Tory Audet (Chelsea Nordiq)
2. Helen McCulligh (Kanata Nordic)
3. Elie-Anne Tremblay (CNEPH/Skibec

U20 Men Qualification
1. Ry Prior (AIAWCA/Chelseas Nordiq)
2. Alexandre Cormier (Fondeurs-Laurentides)
3. Justin Boudreau (Montériski)

U18 Girls
1. Isabelle Haag (Club Chelsea Nordiq)
2. Addison Frank (Nakkertok Nordic)
3. Marianne Brillant (Skibec)

U18 Boys
1. Olivier Picard (Club Chelsea Nordiq)
2. Xavier Normandin (Skibec)
3.. Seamus Williams (Nakkertok Nordique)

U16 Girls
1. Marie Dubois (Mont-Sainte-Anne)
2. Anna Vurma (Team Hardwood)
3. Min Dobson (Lappe Nordic)

U16 Boys
1. Joel Thibault (Fondeurs-Laurentides)
2. Arnaud Lapointe (Skibec)
3. Thierry Olivier (Mont-Sainte-Anne)

Para Nordic Sitting
1. Yves Bourque (ARSNM/Mauriski)
2. Erica Scarff Mono Nordic
3. Catherine Vaillant (ARSNM/Mauriski)

Para Nordic Standing
1.Félix Lafond (Fondeurs-Laurentides)
2.Charles Lecours (ARSNM/Mauriski)

Canada Cup – December 16: 20km Mass Start Skate

Open Women
1.Helen McCulligh (Kanata Nordic)
2. Ophélie Grandmont (Mont-Sainte-Anne)
3. Constance Lapointe (Whitehorse Ski Club)

Open Men
1 .Sasha Masson (Whitehorse Ski Club)
2 Leo Grandbois (Orford/CNEPH)
3. Alexandre Bourque (Montériski)

CCUNC Women
1.Helen McCulligh (Carleton University)
2. Katherine Mason (Carleton University)
3. Emmanuelle Simard (University of Laval)

CCUNC Men
1. Sasha Masson (University of Laval)
2. Alexandre Bourque (CEGEP)
3. Xavier Lefebvre (Collège de Maisonneuve)

U20 Women
1. Helen McCulligh (Kanata Nordic)
2. Ophélie Grandmont (Mont-Sainte-Anne)
3. Constance Lapointe (Whitehorse Ski Club)

U20 Men
1. Alexandre Bourque (Montériski)
2. Xavier Lefebvre (Montériski)
3. Luke Allan (Nakkertok Nordic)

Canada Cup – December 16: 10km Mass Start Skate

U18 Girls
1. Tory Audet (Club Chelsea Nordiq)
2. Mégan Lebel (Mont-Sainte-Anne)
3. Anais Rhéaume (Mont-Sainte-Anne)

U18 Boys
1.Xavier Normandin (Skibec)
2. Mathieu Lacasse (Skinouk)
3. Willem Van Duyn (Big Thunder Nordic)

U16 Girls – 5km
1. Marie Dubois (Mont-Sainte-Anne
2. Sofia Renaud (Mont-Sainte-Anne)
3. Alicia Julien (Skibec)

U16 Boys – 7.5km
1. Zachari Moreau (Mont-Sainte-Anne)
2. Thierry Olivier (Mont-Sainte-Anne)
3. Albert Raymond (Mont-Sainte-Anne)

Complete Results:

About Nordic Cup/Canada Cup Race Series:
Canada’s cross-country ski athletes will have equal opportunity to compete in two regional races in either Eastern or Western Canada in December prior to heading west following the holiday break for the Olympic and FIS Nordic Junior/U23 World Ski Championships trials.

The FIS Canada Cup Series provides the country’s high-performance nordic athletes the opportunity to earn FIS points without leaving their region by competing in two regional race series opportunities in Eastern and Western Canada. The FIS sanctioning of an event only affects the elite Open category. All other race categories will be run as Provincial Cups. U20 athletes racing in their respective East-West FIS Canada Cup Series will have the opportunity to qualify for a Nordiq Canada development trip to US SuperTour Period III. Selection criteria will be outlined in the forthcoming NST Trip Selection Criteria.