Athlete Profile - Katherine Knight

 Athlete Profile -Katherine Knight -W2 Category from Parry Sound, Ontario

Katherine is one of our younger Masters athletes and she did really well at the World Cup in Canmore coming away with three medals, two of them gold: Gold middle distance classic, bronze short skate, gold in long classic!!

Included are some pictures of Katherine (204) and Ontario Masters team member and training partner- Aleesha Clark (110) also from Parry Sound.

Ontario Masters Association was able to get a bit of a background from Katherine:

"I started skiing during my last year of high school. OFSAA was in Ottawa that year and my friends suggested I join the team so I could come on the trip to Ottawa. The following year I began skiing for the University of Guelph. I’ve been skiing ever since! "

Why did you join the Ontario Masters?

" I joined the Ontario Masters association as a way to keep on top of all the long distance ski events happening in Ontario. "

What was your training plan for the World Cup in Canmore ?

" There was no training plan leading up to Canmore. During COVID, my husband and I started an annual race to see be the first to 1000km each winter so most of my training consisted of logging as many kms as I could in order to beat him (I didn’t). I also skied a lot with Aleesha Clarke, another Masters skier from Parry Sound who raced in Canmore as well. She’s a talented skate skier, which meant I had to ski hard to keep up. "

How did you manage work and training?

"Like most masters, work often impacts training. I could ski only three out of four weeks each month, so there were stretches of a week at a time when I wasn’t skiing. On the days I was skiing, it was a lot of frigid early mornings or dark nights lit by headlamp."

That does sound cold. As many of our young Masters skiers know it is particularly hard to keep up training when launching careers and families. The perseverance paid off for Katherine.

So what is next for racing for Katherine?

" Currently I don’t have any other races lined up. Canmore was such a great experience and will be hard to beat. This summer I’m trying to enjoy as much time cycling as I can. "

We hope to see Katherine at the local Ontario races next season ( and her husband who is from Australia but has taken to cross country skiing with a passion) . They are both determined to do Gatineau loppet at minimum which is always a great event. Congrats to Katherine on her great performance at Canmore.

Athlete Profile: Chris Huet

 Athlete Profile: Chris Huet, W6 category from Victoria Harbour, Ontario

Chris Huet has been racing the Ontario Masters circuit, winning the Ontario Masters point series several times. At Canmore, Chris raced well and came away with two bronze medals in the medium distance classic (15 km) and the short skate (10 km). Attached is the video of her bronze classic race, where she is greeted at the finish line by Canadian skier Kathy Butler (Saskatchewan).

Ontario Masters was able to chat with Chris to understand where her athleticism and passion to race came from.

How did you get in to cross country skiing?

"I grew up in Sault Ste. Marie and my mother was an adventure lover so introduced us to nordic skiing. Later when I started teaching in Brampton I was doing triathlons and coached swimming for the Regency group where Bruce Nevison convinced a group of us to join his Chinguacousy Nordic Team to compete in loppets."

Chris like many masters skiers took time off from competitive sport while raising a family , but once her two daughters got old enough, it was Bruce who once again encouraged them all to race in cross country skiing.

How did you get into Masters World Cup racing?

"When I retired from teaching high school an athlete I used to coach (in running) offered to help me train for my first World Cup Masters race in Minneapolis Minnesota. Brittany Webster had raced for Canada in 2 previous Olympics so was a great resource. I had so much fun, that when I heard the next year was in Beitostolen Norway, I began planning to go. Norway had always been on my bucket list. Again, I had so much fun and loved the culture. I was scheduled to race in Italy before Covid hit so unfortunately missed that year. Connected with Brittany again last fall as we worked together well in my past 2 World Cup events . Canmore was an outstanding event in March. "

What does the future hold?

"Next year I would love to go to Austria but I have not finalized my goals at this point. But I am looking forward to seeing all the friendly masters skiers at local races again next season."

Congrats to Chris on her great success and we look forward to seeing Chris at races next season.