C/O Dr. Natalie Lazarowych
Marauder Nordic skiing team makes an OUA splash, backed by community support and team effort
Over the Feb. 26 weekend, Nordic skiing entered the Ontario University Athletics for the second time in McMaster history. The results of the OUA Championships had the women’s team placing sixth overall and the men’s team placing ninth.
The Marauder Nordic skiing team is new and many of its athletes are in their beginning years of eligibility. For the team, this competition was largely about establishing itself and gaining experience in competitive racing.
The team finds much support in the community beyond just financially. Parents stepped in to help with timing races. Additionally, given that the meet was in Collingwood, many families there opened their homes to house team members.
Training is planned and supervised by a group of four individuals: head coach Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky, women’s captain Milla Tarnopolsky, men’s captain Errol Bowman and assistant coach Cara Pekos.
While some on the women’s Nordic skiing team have prior experience, many on the men’s team joined the race as athletes from other sports. Bowman came from rowing, Lucas Wiens from triathlon and Nick Sammon from biking.
“Our name might not have gotten out there in terms of results a lot, but I think . . . We were one of the harder working teams. I think we fought with a lot of grit in those races,” said Sammon.
“Our name might not have gotten out there in terms of results a lot, but I think . . . We were one of the harder working teams. I think we fought with a lot of grit in those races."
Nick Sammon, Nordic Skiing Team
With the lack of snow on the ground, Nordic skiing training includes a variety of exercises that accentuate technique and endurance. These include slow cardio training, high-intensity workouts and fun ski-specific training such as roller skiing and ski striding.
“The great thing about a lot of the people on the team is that their fitness is already amazing so we just have to channel their energy into getting them forward and moving forward and [as] fast [and] efficiently as possible . . . I will plan on doing more technique sessions and potentially bringing in some club coaches [to] help give an external opinion on things,” explained Pekos.
Due to the difficulties of balancing a student-athlete life, many training sessions occur in the early mornings or late nights. For Sammon, training is a way to stay motivated and clear his head for his schoolwork.
“I find training when school gets hard is actually more beneficial. I'm more driven to stay dedicated just because I love to train and I love to exercise. So, if I have a really busy school week, the best way to get through it isn't by just grinding my [schoolwork] because it's those daily workouts and exercises that actually keep me going,” said Sammon.
The team also finds a lot of support with each other, committing themselves to making the training sessions and seeing each other there.
“It was mainly going and training with a group of people that helps keep you motivated, so if someone's counting on me to show for a strength workout, I'm not going to bail on them because they're going to show up at 8:00 a.m.,” explained Pekos.
“It was mainly going and training with a group of people that helps keep you motivated, so if someone's counting on me to show for a strength workout, I'm not going to bail on them because they're going to show up at 8:00 a.m."
Cara Pekos, Assistant Coach
As the Nordic skiing team is new, they have plenty of room to grow and improve their skiing technique. With the community and team support behind them, the team’s second OUA meet this year season is shaping towards a hard-fought and well-earned victory.
McMaster’s newest team is gearing up for a huge month. The first Ontario University Athletics championship is quickly creeping up on the horizon and will take place Feb. 2 for the Nordic skiing team. The team is led by Head Coach Soren Meeuwisse and is comprised of six women and six men.
Nordic skiing does not get a lot of coverage in comparison to other sports, but it is truly a great test of skill. Something which may not be very well known is that nordic skiing is actually the same as cross country skiing even though they have different names.
More than just a coach, Meeuwisse is a fifth-year kinesiology student that also competes for the team. It should also come as no surprise that Meeuwisse is leading the team in competitions, as she has experience competing at the national level, albeit for cycling. Meeuwisse placed second in each race she competed in at the most recent Ontario cup.
The fact that Meeuwisse is still a student means she has a peer-to-peer relationship with the team. Her understanding of the challenges a student-athlete may face allows her to connect with her athletes on a level of more than just teaching them to be better athletes.
“I’m a varsity athlete student mentor tutor type position. I’m a very focused student as well and I like to show many different student-athletes how they can balance their athletic pursuits with their academic pursuits, and really just find the joy in both of those,” said Meeuwisse.
Meeuwisse also takes an individualistic approach to her coaching, focusing on her athletes’ strengths and weaknesses to get them to be the best they can be. This is both due to her expertise from her degree in kinesiology and her experience competing at one of the highest levels for cycling.
”It’s been really cool applying all my kinesiology knowledge and also with my specific expertise of working with elite-level athletes [. . . ] and not just portraying myself on the athletes. Really getting to know them their mental and physical capacities and creating a training plan and environment that accommodates those people as individuals,” Meeuwisse noted.
One of the most important things Meeuwisse emphasized was to not be intimidated by the team. Meeuwisse tries to encourage a welcoming and fun team culture. The team welcomes all types of athletes with all types of experience. More experienced athletes can try out for the racing team, but those without as much experience or time are encouraged to join the training team, with the potential of moving on to the racing team later. The lack of snow also doesn’t slow the team down — when the weather is warm, they roller-ski on the road.
“As of now, we want anyone who has any ski experience to feel open to coming and reaching out to the team to be involved. We have both a racing team and a training team,” Meuwisse said.
Although the team is new, they show a great deal of promise. During the third Ontario cup, which took place Dec. 18 and 19, four athletes from the women’s team placed in the top ten during the ten-kilometre interval start skate. For a team that is comprised of skiers with all different types of experience, the fact that two thirds of their women’s team placed in the top ten shows that Mac’s newest squad has a great deal in-store.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
