Her teachers at school call seven-year-old Isla Cadell "Tornado."
Appropriately, she's part of the Turbo 1 group when she trains twice a week with the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club.
And if you happened to see her shuffling her feet and digging in with her poles in classic rhythm as she shot back and forth across the Otway Nordic Centre stadium, far ahead of the rest of the atom-aged skiers in their one-kilometre race at Sunday's Teck Northern Cup, you'd know why Cadell has a bright future ahead of her as a cross-country ski racer.
She's fast.
Cadell doesn't know how she's become such a speed demon but it helps she has an older sister to try to beat.
"I've been skiing since I was three," said Isla. "I've done racing for a couple years. I like skiing fast. My mom and dad taught me that."
Isla's nine-year-old sister Iona placed second behind clubmate Payton Sinclair in the peewee girls 2 race Sunday, and her five-year old sister Skye also races. Racing without poles, Skye also completed the one-kilometre course and finished second to Caledonia Nordic Ski clubmate Madelyn Bauman in the atom 1 girls division.
The Teck Northern Cup event is geared toward entry-level racing which gave Cadell the chance to see future Olympians competing right next to her in the Haywood NorAm/Buff Sprints Western Canadian championships, also hosted at Otway this past weekend. She was suitably impressed.
"It's awesome seeing them, they showed me how to double-pole," said Isla. "I learned that it's OK to pass people."
Isla also swims regularly and is enrolled in gymnastics. Her parents, Ali and Will, are active volunteers in the Caledonia club who encourage their kids to get involved in physical activities and go for long hikes. Ali was not surprised at Isla's result Sunday.
"She's always been very determined and she skis a lot," said Ali. "We ski long distances as a family. She's the most competitive (of the three kids). Her teachers (at Lac des Bois elementary) call her Tornado because she attacks everything with gusto."
Caledonia coach Peder Nesset doesn't have do any prodding to get Isla to work hard on her training runs and he says her skills go well beyond her years.
"She's a phenomenal skier with really good technique and the biggest thing is she's got great heart," said Nesset. "She loves the sport, loves to compete, a great kid. She's spent a lot of time on the trails with her family and it shows. I'm sure they chase each other all the time."
In other Caledonia results form the Teck Northern Cup, classic races Sunday, Jenna Foreman won the atom 2 girls race; Kai Pettersen, Torrin Foster won the respective atom 2 and atom 3 boys races.
It was a Caledonia medal sweep in peewee boys 1. with Andrew Blackburn winning gold, Liam Reusch capturing silver and Sebastian Botten in bronze position. Connel Foster of Caledonia was second among peewee 2 boys, just behind gold-medalist Ian Van Bergeyk of Larch Hills.
Mya Blackburn won the bantam 1 girls event, Chloe Wiliston of Bulkley Valley (Smithers) was second and Artemis Douglas of Caledonia was third. Joshua Fiala of Caledonia was third in bantam boys 2.
In the masters race a 10 km event, Conrad Algier of Caledonia won gold, sharing the podium with Bulkley Valley racers Peter Krause and Alex Woods.
Other NorAm class winners Sunday were: Peewee girls 1 -- Ava Kwiatkowski; bantam girls 2 -- Grace Turner, Williams Lake; bantam boys 1 -- Mitchell Bond, Sovereign Lake (Vernon); bantam boys 2 -- Kaiden Kwiatkowski, Overlander (Kamloops); midget girls 1 -- Julianne Moore, Larch Hills; midget girls 2 - Marielle Ackermann, Kimberley; midget boys 1 -- Trond May, Larch Hills; midget boys 2 -- Aiden Noble, Strathcona (Courtenay); junior girls 1 -- Rachel May, Larch Hills; juvenile girls 1 -- Julie Brown, Larch Hills; juvenile girls 2 -- Alana Brittin, Revelstoke; junior boys 1 -- Conor McGovern, Red River Nordic (Winnipeg); junior boys 2 -- Reed Godfrey, Canmore; juvenile boys 1 -- Cole Turner, Williams Lake; juvenile boys 2 -- Remi Drolet, Black Jack (Rossland); master women -- Sheila Corbet, Larch Hills.
