麻豆社区

Annah Hanthorn鈥檚 outstanding race results shocked even her at the first NorAm ski races of the season last weekend.

The 19-year-old Yukon cross-country skier won both junior women races in Rossland, B.C., earning some high praise from her coach, Alain Masson.

鈥淧henomenal,鈥� he said of Hanthorn鈥檚 results. 鈥淭hose were the best two races of her life by far.鈥�

Her race results 鈥� 11 kilometres in 32:21.6 and 7.5 km in 21:20.09 鈥� were the fastest of her young career.

Both results were good for gold in the junior women category, while Hanthorn鈥檚 7.5-km result was good for third overall among senior women 鈥� one spot ahead of fellow Whitehorse standout Dahria Beatty.

鈥淚t was a complete surprise 鈥� a very good surprise 鈥� but I鈥坉efinitely was not expecting it,鈥濃�圚anthorn said today from Silver Star, B.C., where she is preparing for this weekend鈥檚 NorAm races.

Following Saturday鈥檚 7.5-km race, the girls were cheering on the Yukon boys when the results were posted.

鈥淥ne of the girls told me: 鈥楢nnah, you鈥檙e third overall,鈥欌�� Hanthorn recounted. 鈥淎nd I鈥坵as like 鈥榃hat?鈥圱hird junior?鈥� 鈥楴o, third overall!鈥� And we kind of started screaming, all of us. We had a group hug. It was pretty exciting.鈥�

She said the races played to her strengths of classic long distance with challenging downhill sections.

According to Hanthorn, her first lap of the 7.5-km race was slow by her standards. She decided to turn it up, and was 12 seconds faster than the rest of the field during the second lap around the course.

Hanthorn was not only the best junior skier, she was also the top U-23 skier, said Masson. Her posted times would have been close to Whitehorse Olympian Emily Nishikawa鈥檚 results, had she been present, he added.

鈥淚t shows she has made a big jump and improvement since last year,鈥� Masson added. 鈥淭his weekend, she showed that she is one of the best 鈥� if not the best 鈥� junior classic skier (in Canada). The classic is really her forte.鈥�

Hanthorn, a native of Fort McPherson, N.W.T., is currently in her second season of serious training with the Yukon ski team.

鈥淚鈥坮eally wanted to get some coaching,鈥� she explained. 鈥淚 went with my siblings for skis and we鈥檇 work with a coach in Yellowknife sometimes ... I really realized that I鈥坙ove racing and going fast on the trails, training and being out in God鈥檚 creation.鈥�

The third-oldest of 10 siblings, Hanthorn hopes working with Masson will help push her onto the junior worlds team that will compete in Almaty, Kazakhstan from Feb. 2 to 8.

Results from Sunday鈥檚 race and the next two NorAm events will be used to help determine the world junior and U-23 team selections.

Alongside Hanthorn鈥檚 outstanding results, other members of the Yukon team also impressed in Rossland.

Fourteen Yukon skiers took part in the weekend races, which was the third in the territory鈥檚 Canada Games team selection process.

Masson said the team will be officially announced later this week.

Besides Hanthorn, three other Yukon girls placed in the top-10 in the 11-km classic race, with 15-year-old Hannah Deuling placing fifth, Natalie Hynes seventh, and Adrienne Hynes, 10th.

Knute Johnsgaard had a disappointing weekend, while Simon Cash, 16, proved to be the team鈥檚 surprise in the junior male class, said Masson.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been training in the Yukon since the nationals in March, but we haven鈥檛 competed against other skiers, so we don鈥檛 know where we stand,鈥� said Masson.

鈥淵ou suspect when there鈥檚 been a huge improvement, but you only know when you start competing at that level.鈥�