Thirteen seconds at a ski racer’s speed is not much of gap over the space of a two-kilometre loop and that’s all that separated Justin Konoff from his nemesis, Luke Hulshof, as they began the final lap of Tuesday’s youth men’s mass start biathlon race at Otway Nordic Centre.
Hulshof and Konoff were the two top dogs in the weekend sprint and pursuit races so it was no surprise the two Foothills Nordic Ski Club members were jostling for the gold in their last race at the Biathlon Canada Junior/Youth World Championships trials.
Based on past experience taking on Hulshof in training runs and races, the 17-year-old Konoff knew he was in trouble on that last lap and and he almost made it, but the 18-year-old Hulshof caught up just before the final turn into the stadium and there was no holding him back.
Hulshof won the sprint to the finish by 1.1 seconds for his third race win at Otway and that clinched his position on the Canadian team heading to the youth world championship next month in Sweden.
“There was a gap all the way to the final stretch and it felt good to complete the triple,” said Hulshof. “I’m super happy to be going to world championships. I had hoped to win one or two but three is a complete surprise.”
Hulshof finished in 28:48.8, while Konoff clocked 28:49.9. Taje Hansen of Sea To Ski Nordics won bronze (30:29.9).
The six-foot-three Hulshof stretched out his long limbs to gain ground with each stride then went 16-for-20 on the range. He cleaned all five targets in his first prone shooting bout, missed one in his second prone, two in his first standing and one in his second standing. Konoff was slightly better, shooting 17-for-20. His last shot of the day missed and that set the stage for the made dash for the finish.
“He’s the last guy I want chasing me on the last lap,” said Konoff.
“In the shooting I dropped 0+1+1+1 and that last one, I missed the last shot and that’s where Luke got it, he’s an incredible athlete, he’s so fast,” said Konoff. “Someone yelled at me on the hill that he had also one miss, so I knew he was right behind me, and I was just sending it and dug deep but he’s a great skier.”
The top four racers overall qualify for the IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Oestersund, Sweden, Feb 24-March 5.
The senior and junior men raced together in one mass start, and Chelsea Nordiq racers Jean-Nicolas de Broeck and Zachary Connelly found themselves in another battle for top sport on the podium. In Sunday’s pursuit, de Broeck earned the right to brag he was the fastest of the fast from his Quebec-based club across the river from Ottawa.
It was a different story Tuesday.
De Brock’s slim lead evaporated during the first standing bout when he left two targets up while Connelly blasted 4-of-5. But it was still a close race when both shooters missed one on Round 4, until Connelly took off for his last lap and his superior ski speed on the flats made all the difference.
Connelly, 23, finished the 12.5-kilometre course in 35:37.7, just 2.1 seconds in front of de Broeck (35:39.8).
“I had a great time today, a lot of lot of back and forth,” said Connelly.
“(On Sunday) he really had it in the range and today, I’ve been getting more and more confident, setting the pace early and I figured going into the range on the last one I’d push the pace a bit and just hit the range hard and it seemed to work out.”
The 20-year-old de Broeck did keep his winning streak intact as the junior gold medallist, having won the junior sprint and pursuit.
Francois Gauthier of Foothills Nordic (37:18.3) and Benjamin Brousseau of Canmore Nordic (37:19.2), shared the junior medal podium with de Broeck on Tuesday.
Lucas Smith of Sea to Sky Nordics (Squamish) won silver in the senior (plus-22) class (36:43.8) while Matthew Strum of Canmore (Sport Performance Under Development) was the bronze medallist (37:01.7).
Liam Simons of Prince George finished fourth out of 18 starters. Racing for the host Caledonia Nordic Ski Club, he was in bronze-medal position until he wiped out at the bottom of the High 5 hill.
Simons, 20, will represent Canada at the FISU World University Games later this month in Italy, and was hoping to get back on the world trials podium after his silver-medal sprint finish. Aside from the fall, his skis worked well for him, but he wasn’t satisfied with his 15-for-20 shooting.
“Shooting wasn’t my best, but it was a good fight out there,” said Simons. “Some tricky corners, it was getting chopped up. The first day (silver medal) was special and this is a nice way to top it off.”
Liam Sinclair of Prince George, racing for the UNBC Timberwolves varsity club, finished 17th (43:22.3). He knew he wasn’t going to be a medal threat, but the chance to race with the fastest 19-21-year-olds in the country gave him valuable insights the 19-year-old plans to use at the next two BC Cup races and the national championships in March in Valcartier, Que.
“This a very good tuneup to practice all the hills and the flow through the course because Valcartier will be the same thing,” said Sinclair who skipped a chemistry lab at UNBC to race Tuesday.
“It was nice being able to sleep in my own bed, wake up and be in my own house and prep my own food. I’ve been racing and training here for the last 10 years and I had a bit of home course advantage. It was tough competitive field and it was good racing.”
In other Caledonia results, in the youth men’s mass start, Oscar Nelson was 18th (34:57.4), right in front of clubmate Nathaneal Dean who placed 18th (35:39.3), while Burns Lake native Ewan Hawes was 22nd (36:27.3).
Racing up an age class against 18-year-olds, the 15-year-old Nelson cleaned his second bout and shot quire respectable 14-for-20 in the race.
“My shooting was good today, I hit another five today in my second bout, and that definitely felt good,” said Nelson, a Grade 10 student at Duchess Park Secondary School. “They’re really fast, especially the ones from Alberta Training Centre, that train for a living. It’s nice knowing the loop and all the ins and outs of it. The skiing was OK. I’ve had a bunch of injuries (to his shins and feet) and it’s was nice to feel fast again.”
Complete race results are available on the Zone 4 website.
