Black Jack skier Jasmine Drolet captured the overall Juvenile Girls Aggregate award at the 2017 Cross Country Ski Nationals in Canmore last week.
Hosted by the Canmore Nordic Ski Club, the event attracted more than 1000 athletes, coaches, and parents from across the country. The venue is the site of the 1988 Olympic Winter Games Nordic events and has over 60 kilometres of groomed trails and the largest snowmaking system in North America.
The 15-year-old Drolet won the 2002-age-group title beating out over 40 cross-country skiers from across Canada. The aggregate is based on the most points accumulated in four races at the week-long event. Drolet capped off the championship with a third-place finish in the mass start free skate on Mar. 25, after racing to fourth in the Interval start - classic technique, and fifth in the Interval-free technique.
Black Jack skier David Palmer raced to third place in the Sr. Men’s 15-km Interval Start-Classic, while Daniel Merlo captured fourth in the Junior Mens.
Black Jack’s Chiaki Yamamoto finished seventh in Jr. Women’s Mass start-free technique and 10th in the individual sprint-classic technique and the same result in the Interval start-classic technique.
Sage Robine also came away with promising results with a seventh place finish in the Jr. Women’s Interval start-classic technique, a 12th place result in the mass start-free technique, and 13th in the Interval-free technique, while Michaela McLean took 13th spot in Jr. Girls mass start-free technique.
Black Jack skier Julien Locke who now trains in Canmore with the Canadian National Ski Team finished fifth among Canadians in the 1.3-km Classic sprint.
Jasmine’s brother Remi Drolet, one of the top young skiers in North America, was unable to compete due to injury.