Heidi Widmer continued her dominance of the domestic racing scene, partnering up with Marlis Kromm to win the women’s team sprint in convincing fashion on Saturday (March 23) at Whistler Olympic Park to open the cross-country Haywood Ski Nationals.
“Whistler’s treating us mighty fine,” Widmer said moments after cruising to a nine-second win in the final, clocking a time of 15:17.
“Marliss and I skied well technically. We got to focus on being as smooth as possible. A sprint relay can be hard for sprint specialists because you’re doing more than one heat. You have to do a good job pacing.”
The duo battled through a tough opening heat, but were still able to rest for the final. Kromm, one of Canada’s top young skiers with the Alberta World Cup Academy, and Widmer, the nation’s most promising sprinter and a Banff native, set the tone early as the team to beat.
Kromm battled fiercely on the hillclimbs, but gained an advantage on the descents, allowing her to comfortably tag off to Widmer for the final leg. The next three teams battled it out for the podium, as Mary Thompson and Erin Tribe earned the silver medal (15:26.8), and Michaela Howie and Zoe Roy grabbed the bronze (15:30.9).
The key to the win was the hill climb, as teams who maintained speed succeeded, and pacing. Controlling speed and stamina during a two-by-six kilometre course can be tricky for even the most experienced racers. Kromm said she wanted to ski in a controlled fashion on the first lap and punch it on the last two to widen the gap.
“It’s a great consistent climb. It’s not that steep, but very demanding through the first half of the course. You have to maintain as much speed as you can and do yourself as many favours as you can coming into the final descent,” Widmer said.
The warm sun changed conditions through the day, however the track maintained its good shape.
“It was getting a bit soft, but the volunteers did a great job. It didn’t turn out to be too treacherous,”Kromm said.
Zoe Williams and Katherine Stewart-Jones took the challenge women’s category win.
