Knowing what's at stake this weekend at Otway Nordic Centre for cross-country skiers trying to qualify for Ski Tour Canada, Matt Neumann wasn't putting any pressure on himself to win his race Friday.
It was a different story for the points leaders involved in the Haywood NorAm/Buff Sprints Western Canadian championships men's open 10-kilometre freestyle race. They're in a dogfight for podium positions to lock up their spots on Canada's team for eight World Cup races on the Tour next month.
Neumann just wanted to race at home again. The 26-year-old from Prince George has spent the better part of a decade honing his skills as a biathlete and Friday's race was his first cross-country event in 2 1/2 years. Despite a high-speed wipeout on his first lap he finished 10th out 18 senior men.
"I fell in one of the worst places on the course when you come down from the very top, I lost a lot of momentum, probably 10 or 20 seconds," said Neumann, who said course got significantly quicker overnight Friday morning. "I was hoping for a better result but it was fun to compete. That's a good chunk of Canada's best competing and it was fun. That's the first time I've raced on those trails so it wasn't much of a home advantage. Up until (Thursday) I would come around a sharp corner and be surprised at where it went.
"It was fun to be home. Every corner it seemed like there was someone cheering for me and I recognized a lot of faces out there. The course was fantastic, the trails are great for how much snow there was."
Russell Kennedy of Canmore won Friday's race to improve his spot in the NorAm standings. Kennedy was seventh among Canadians heading into the Prince George races and picked up 100 points for his win Friday, completing the course in 22 minutes 19.1 seconds - four-tenths of a second ahead of Kevin Sandau of Calgary, the NorAm points leader. Michael Somppi of Thunder Bay. Ont., was third, 2.5 seconds off the winning pace.
In the open women's race, a 7.5 km event, Dahria Beatty of Whitehorse, Yukon was first across the line at the Otway stadium to climb into first place in the NorAm standings. Beatty won by 10.6 seconds over second-place Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt of Morin Heights, Que., and was 45.8 seconds in front of third-place Maya Macisaac-Jones of Athabasca, Alta. Jacqui Benson of Prince George, a former World Cup ski racer, was 13th overall in the open women's category racing for the Caledonia club, 3:16.7 behind Beatty.
Neumann flew into Prince George Monday after competing in his first World Cup biathlon races last weekend in Presque Isle, Maine. He was 82nd out of 92 in the sprint and helped Canada place 15th in the relay.
"It felt near top form," said Neumann, a nationally-carded athlete who has been racing the IBU Cup circuit in Europe this season.
Just like in 2014, when he was one spot shy of the Olympic team, Neumann just missed making the World Cup team at the Canadian trials in November. He was sixth and only the top five were picked. Two years ago, just before the Sochi Olympics, he flew to Germany thinking he would make his World Cup debut there, but found out after he got there he wasn't qualified. The races in Maine fulfilled a lifelong goal in biathlon for the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club member.
"It's fun to race against the biathlon heroes I grew up watching on TV - guys from Russia, France and Norway who are making over a million dollars a year, they're celebrities," said Neumann. "I didn't have great races but I was happy to have good enough races to be able to see the speed. It's not a big difference between winning an IBU Cup and being in contention for winning a World Cup."
Neumann's roommate from Canmore, Patrick Stewart-Jones beat him Friday by one second for ninth place, while his other roommate, Jesse Cockney, was fifth, just ahead of two-time Paralympic champion Brian McKeever of Calgary.
Neumann won't race today's sprints, which start with qualifying at 10 a.m. He's also elected not to race in Sunday's mass start classic 20 km race.
He plans to be in Valcartier, Que., for the Canadian biathlon championships, March 15-20, his third time to compete for national medals at that venue. In 2009, as a junior racer, he won three gold medals in Valcartier. Next year's nationals will be in Prince George.
In other Caledonia results, Kaia Andal won the silver medal in the junior girls 7.5 km race. She was 25.9 seconds behind Anna Goodwin of Vancouver. Rachel May of Salmon Arm won bronze.
Conrad Allgaier won the master men's race over Peter Krause of Smithers and Caledonia skier John Hagen. Damian Georgyev was sixth in the midget boys race, won by Aiden Noble of Courtenay.
Other category winners Friday were: Junior men - Gareth Williams, West Kelowna; Junior women - Ingvild Hoymork, Edmonton; Juvenile girls - Elizabeth Elliott, Revelstoke; Midget girls - Isobel Hendry, Canmore; Juvenile boys - Remi Drolet, Rossland.
Complete results are on zone4.ca.
