Posted by Sudbury Northern Life 
The Laurentian Nordic Ski Club has recently seen a revival in the competitive ski program with a new coaching team and some very promising results at the provincial level. 
Dean Waddell, former competitive skier with Laurentian Nordic, is the head coach of the team, and Reed Morrison is the assistant coach.
"There is a long standing tradition of skiing in this club, including a strong racing team, which has been absent for the past few years, but we look to spark a new fire for nordic skiing in Sudbury. There are many coaches and athletes throughout the province who are very pleased to see this club being represented at the provincial level," said Waddell, in a release.
The team had a solid result for their first provincial race placing third in the Midget relay at the Ontario Midget Nordic Ski Championships in Sault Ste. Marie recently. (Relay team members: Tim Tindall, Hailey Balaz and Nicholas Taillefer).
Tindall finished with a strong 5th place in the classic category and 8th in the skate category. Balaz pulled a 16th on the skate day, and 14th on the Classic day. 
Lauren Rainsford placed 26th and 27th on Saturday and Sunday, Nicholas Taillefer came 14th and 15th respectively, Thomas Gore came 14th on the Skate Saturday race, and Molly Kennedy came 15th in her skate race. 
A second Laurentian Nordic relay team consisting of Molly, Lauren and Thomas delivered an 8th place finish in the relays on Saturday.
Tindall and Taillefer both placed first in their division at the Ontario Elementary Nordic Ski Championships at Hardwood Hills outside of Barrie on Thursday, March 5. 
Balaz placed second and Kennedy showed a very strong finish in her division. 
"I couldn't be happier about the results, cross country skiing requires a lot of factors to come together for an athlete to have a great race, and all four of our athletes put them together for this race. Each of these athletes showed their potential and dedication to their sport, which is the driving force and motivation for myself to coach these athletes," said Waddell.
These young skiers are training on the same trails as Devon Kershaw, a local Sudbury skier and a strong competitor for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Devon Kershaw is one of the top Canadian cross-country skiers and is the first Canadian man in over a decade to win a World Cup medal.
The team will continue to train throughout the summer with a fun and challenging balance of strength and endurance training with the ultimate goal of improving their standings for next year's races which will include the Ontario Winter Games.  
Anyone interested in the program should contact Waddell at 662-1813 or [email protected] .
