Cross Country Canada Nominates 2018/2019 National Team

(Note: This article has been updated to reflect that Len Valjas was nominated to the B-team, rather than the A-team as previously stated.)

On Thursday, Cross Country Canada (CCC) announced its national-team nominations for the 2018/2019 season via a press release.

Notably, the World Cup A-team is made up of one man — Alex Harvey — after three athletes from last year’s World Cup A-team retired (Devon Kershaw, Jess Cockney and Knute Johnsgaard). Graeme Killick, of last season’s World Cup B-team, also retired. Len Valjas was nominated to the B-team, a demotion, he said, that was a result of him ending his season immediately after the PyeongChang Olympics.

“The reasoning is that I … didn’t show up to [the World Cup in] Drammen, is that I didn’t follow what the team said,” Valjas told FasterSkier on May 22. He explained he had a broken spine, which required rest and rehabilitation.

On the women’s side, Dahria Beatty was renominated to the World Cup B-team, while Emily Nishikawa and Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt were not.

All five of last year’s U25 Team were renominated to the national team, with Cendrine Browne and Julien Locke making the jump to the World Cup B-team, while Katherine Stewart-Jones, Maya MacIsaac-Jones and Gareth Williams were renominated to the U25 Team. Also on the U25 development squad, Antoine Cyr was promoted from the junior national team, and Graham Ritchie earned his first national-team nomination.

The World Cup team will once again be led by co-coaches Ivan Babikov and Louis Bouchard.

On the Para-Nordic side, the World Cup Team grew by one despite the retirement of Chris Klebl. Six athletes and two guides were nominated to the Para-Nordic World Cup Team, while two were renamed to the Development & Prospects Team. Four other athletes round out the team as part of the Prospects Team.

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National Ski Team: Senior Team

World Cup A-team

• Alex Harvey (Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre)

World Cup B-team

• Len Valjas (Team Hardwood)
• Dahria Beatty (Alberta World Cup Academy)
• Cendrine Browne (Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre)
• Julien Locke (Black Jack)

U25 Team

• Katherine Stewart-Jones (NTDC Thunder Bay)
• Maya MacIsaac-Jones (Rocky Mountain Racers)
• Gareth Williams (Telemark)
• Graham Ritchie (NTDC Thunder Bay)
• Antoine Cyr (Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre)

National Ski Team: Junior Team

• Sam Hendry (Canmore Nordic)
• Remi Drolet (Black Jack)
• Pierre Grall-Johnson (Nakkertok)
• Finn Dodgson (Barrie Cross Country)
• Tallon Noble (Strathcona Nordic)
• Malcolm Thompson (Big Thunder Nordic)
• Elizabeth Elliott (Revelstoke Nordic)
• Roxanne Vermette (Club Nordique M.S.A.)
• Benita Peiffer (Whistler Nordic)
• Beth Granstrom (Revelstoke Nordic)
• Alexandra Racine (Club Ski de Fond Orford)

Para-Nordic National Ski Team

World Cup Team

• Mark Arendz (Rocky Mountain Racers)
• Collin Cameron (Laurentian Nordic)
• Brittany Hudak (Sturgeon River Nordic)
• Brian McKeever (Fast Trax Run & Ski Club)
• Russell Kennedy (guide) (Canmore Nordic)
• Graham Nishikawa (guide) (Whitehorse)
• Natalie Wilkie (Larch Hills Nordic)
• Emily Young (Telemark)

Development & Prospects Team

• Sébastien Fortier (Skibec)
• Derek Zaplotinsky (Strathcona Wilderness Centre)

Prospects Team

• Jessie Bachinsky (Kenora Nordic)
• Kyle Barber (Laurentian Nordic)
• Ethan Hess (Nordic Racers)
• Cindy Ouellet (Club Nordique M.S.A.)