2011 Winter Universiade: CIS announces Canadian cross country skiing, biathlon teams

OTTAWA (CIS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced Monday the student-athletes and coaches who will represent Canada in cross country skiing and biathlon at the 2011 Winter Universiade in Erzurum, Turkey.

The 25th Winter World University Games will run from January 27 to February 6. The cross country skiing events get under way on Jan. 28, with the biathlon competitions kicking off a day later.

Heading the Canadian cross country skiing delegation in Erzurum will be Mary Waddell, who will act as team leader for the third straight Universiade. The coaching staff is comprised of head coach Mark Tierny and coaches Sara Nielsen and Kirk Potter.

The five-member women’s squad is made up of Carleton University’s Adele Lay, Laval’s Alexia Pichard-Jolicoeur, Utah’s Zoe Roy, Laurentian’s Mary Thompson and Alberta Augustana’s Maja Zimmermann.

Pichard-Jolicoeur of St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., and Thompson of Woodstock, Ont., are both veterans of the 2009 Games in Harbin, China. Pichard-Jolicoeur had her best individual showing - a 37th place - in the 15 km mass start and also finished 40th in the 10 km pursuit, 41st in the sprint, 44th in the 5 km freestyle race and 12th in the team relay. Thompson was 44th in the pursuit, 45th in the mass start and 50th in both the sprint and freestyle.

On the men’s side, Canada is also sending five competitors including Laval teammates Benjamin Hébert and Vincent Ruel, Carleton’s Colin Abbott, UBC’s Jesse Heckrodt and Calgary’s Anthony Killick.

Canada won its lone Universiade medal in cross country skiing back in 1985 in Belluno, Italy, when the foursome of Alain Masson, Wayne Dustin, Owen Spence and Benoit Létourneau claimed bronze in the men’s 4x10 km relay.

In biathlon, most of the Canadian roster comes from the University of Alberta’s Augustana campus, including team leader Joan Skinstad and coach Hans Skinstad.

The women set to wear the maple leaf uniform are Augustana’s Lauren Brookes, Elizabeth Mawdsley, Jennifer Paterson and Kathryn Stone, while their male teammates will be Johnathon Forward, Jon Skinstad and Kai Skinstad, all of Augustana, as well as UBC’s Jaime Robb.

Stone of Camrose, Alta., and Forward of Corner Brook, Nfld., both have previous Universiade experience. Stone competed in 2009 in China and finished eighth in the mixed relay, 35th in the individual 15 km, 38th in the 10 km pursuit and 39th in the 7.5 km sprint. Forward was 41st in the 12.5 km pursuit and 48th in the 10 km sprint in 2007 in Turin, Italy.

Canada has never medaled at the Universiade in biathlon.

Canada’s participation in the Universiade is managed by the CIS International Programs.

Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/winter
2011 Winter Universiade website: www.erzurum2011.gov.tr/english

TEAM CANADA CROSS COUNTRY SKIING ROSTER & SCHEDULE 
 
Name    School     Hometown   

Colin Abbott   Carleton University   Whitehorse, Yukon
Benjamin Hébert  Laval University   Montreal, Que.
Jesse Heckrodt   University of British Columbia  Enderby, B.C.
Anthony Killick   University of Calgary   Fort McMurray, Alta.
Vincent Ruel   Laval University   Charny, Que.
Adele Lay   Carleton University   Eden Mills, Ont.
Alexia Pichard-Jolicoeur  Laval University   St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que.
Zoe Roy   University of Utah   Bracebridge, Ont.
Mary Thompson  Laurentian University   Woodstock, Ont.
Maja Zimmermann  University of Alberta (Augustana)  Edmonton, Alta.

Staff        

Team Leader: Mary Waddell (Wahnapitae, Ont.)
Head Coach: Mark Tierney (Corner Brook, Nfld.)
Coach: Sara Nielsen, University of Alaska Anchorage (Whitehorse, Yukon)
Coach: Kirk Potter (Whitehorse, Yukon)

Schedule (local time)

Jan. 28 (10:00): Women’s individual 5 km
Jan. 28 (11:00): Men’s individual 10 km
Jan. 29 (9:00): Women’s & Men’s sprint (qualifications)
Jan. 29 (11:00): Women’s & Men’s sprint (finals)
Jan. 31 (10:00): Women’s pursuit without break (5 km classic & 5 km freestyle)
Jan. 31 (10:00): Men’s pursuit without break (7.5 km classic & 7.5 km freestyle)
Feb. 2 (11:00): Women’s relay 3 x 5 km (classic, freestyle, freestyle)
Feb. 2 (12:00): Men’s relay 4 x 10 km (classic, classic, freestyle, freestyle)
Feb. 3 (10:00): Mixed team sprint
Feb. 5 (10:00): Women’s 15 km mass start (freestyle)
Feb. 5 (11:00): Men’s 30 km mass start (freestyle)

TEAM CANADA BIATHLON ROSTER & SCHEDULE 
 
Name   School     Hometown   

Johnathon Forward University of Alberta (Augustana) Corner Brook, Nfld.
Jaime Robb  University of British Columbia  Hay River, N.W.T.
Jon Skinstad  University of Alberta (Augustana) Camrose, Alta.
Kai Skinstad  University of Alberta (Augustana) Camrose, Alta.
Lauren Brookes  University of Alberta (Augustana) Halifax, N.S.
Elizabeth Mawdsley University of Alberta (Augustana) Fort Smith, N.W.T.
Jennifer Paterson University of Alberta (Augustana) St. Albert, Alta.
Kathryn Stone  University of Alberta (Augustana) Camrose, Alta.

Staff        

Team Leader: Joan Skinstad, University of Alberta – Augustana (Camrose, Alta.)
Coach: Hans Skinstad, University of Alberta – Augustana (Camrose, Alta.)

Schedule (local time)

Jan. 29 (10:00): Men’s individual 20 km
Jan. 29 (13:00): Women’s individual 15 km
Feb. 1 (10:00): Men’s sprint 10 km
Feb. 1 (13:00): Women’s sprint 7.5 km
Feb. 2 (10:00): Men’s pursuit 12.5 km
Feb. 2 (12:00): Women’s pursuit 10 km
Feb. 4 (10:00): Mixed relay (2 x 6 km women & 2 x 7.5 km men)
Feb. 5 (10:00): Men’s mass start 15 km
Feb. 5 (12:00): Women’s mass start 12.5 km       

-CIS-