Lakeland skiers cleaned up in the cross-country event at this year's Alberta 55 Plus Winter Games, bringing home a total of seven medals, including two gold and five silver.
The Zone 7 cross-country team, which encompasses Northeast Alberta, also had four fourth-place finishes at the games, which took place in Calgary and Canmore on Feb. 13-16.
It was Bonnyville resident Rene Champagne leading the way, picking up two gold medals in the men's 70-plus category. Champagne finished the 15-kilometer race with a time of 1:14:14.4, over two and a half minutes ahead of the second place skier. Champagne's second gold medal came in the 7.5-kilometer race, which he finished in just over 32 minutes.
“I'm certainly happy with my results,” said Champagne, following the games. “They had as close to perfect conditions as they could get. Very well organized. The snow was great and the temperature was perfect for skiing.”
Champagne said the cross-country ski facilities in Canmore are probably the best in Canada.
Cold Lake residents Cameron MacLeod and Marc-Andre Ratte were both participating in their first Alberta Games, and both skiers took home two silver medals for their efforts.
Ratte, skiing in the men's 65-plus category, finished his 15-kilometer race in just over one hour and 12 minutes and his 7.5-kilometer race in 30 minutes and 37 seconds.
MacLeod, skiing in the men's 60-plus category, finished his 15-kilometer race in just under an hour and 10 minutes. His 7.5-kilometer race came right down to the wire, with MacLeod finishing in a close second, just four seconds behind the leader.
Bonnyville resident Madeline Dumont finished second in the women's 70-plus 5-kilometer race, with a time of 29 minutes and 38 seconds.
Also from Bonnyville, Emile Dumont and Murielle Sadlowski picked up two fourth-place finishes each – Dumont in the men's 75-plus category and Sadlowski in the women's 55-plus category.
Champagne, who also skied the 55-kilometer Birkebeiner in Edmonton a week prior to the games, finishing third in the age 70-79 category, said the Zone 7 team fared very well in the cross-country ski event.
“For the number of skiers on the team, we brought home a good number of medals.”
He said the high-quality ski trails in the area are contributing to an increase in the number of skiers in the area.
“There's no doubt the trails help. There are a lot of skiers in the area but not all of them ski to compete, many just ski for leisure or to be outdoors.”
Emile Dumont, with the help of Champagne, maintains a trail system near the Bonnyville beach area where many members of the Zone 7 team have been skiing prior to the games.
Champagne said he would like to see even more representation from Zone 7 at future games.
“It's a fun time. I'd love to see even more people involved. There are plenty of medals to be won.”
In overall medals, Zone 7 finished fourth out of eight zones, with six gold, nine silver and eight bronze.
