Soverign Lake, British Columbia – Alex Harvey (CAN) coasted to victory in the men's freestyle Nor-Am sprint yesterday. The 20-year-old, of St-Ferreol les Neiges, Que., posted the fastest qualifying time on the thin-covered hard-packed 1.1-kilometer loop by 2.1 seconds. Jeff Ellis (APUNSC/CAN) finished second, Brent McMurtry third, and Anders Haugen (APUNSC/Rossignol), the lone American representative in the A-Final took fourth.
“It was a great race today and a solid start to the season,†said Eric de Nys, development team coach, Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team. “The conditions were not typical early-season conditions here at Sovereign Lake, but it was a great first day of racing for the season.â€
Harvey, who is entering his rookie season on the Canadian World Cup team, won three medals at the World Junior Championships during his two seasons of racing as a junior.
Veteran George Gray (CAN) finished 5th and Julien Nury (CAN) 6th to complete the A-Final.
Andrey Golovko (Saab Salomon Factory Team) won the B-Final to finish 7th, ahead of Skeets Morel (CAN) and Terrell Stephen (CAN). David Chamberlain (MWSC/Fischer-Craft) was 10th, Cameron Egan (CAN) 11th, and Mikey Sinnott 12th (SVSEF/Saab Salomn Factory Team), rounding out the B-Final.
With 67 starters, featuring the best North American skiers not racing on the World Cup, the field was deep and challenging.
Racing continued today with a 15km freestyle.
