DUPONT AND HUGHSON WIN FIRST EVENT OF THE SEASON

This weekend the Nordic Skiing season kicked off in Collinwood, Ontario and was attended by 104 skiers from Carleton, Guelph, Laurentian, Ottawa, Queen's, Toronto, Trent, and Waterloo. Saturday, skiers completed an individual time trial classic technique race. Women did 5km, and men did 8.5km. Andrea Dupont from Timmins, Ontario, had an outstanding performance for the Waterloo Warriors winning the women's individual race in a time of 17:08.43, forty-three seconds ahead of second place Linnaea Kershaw of Carleton.

Bryon Hughson won the men's division in a time of 23:58, 37 seconds ahead of second place Brian Suke from the University of Guelph. Bryon's individual win helped the Waterloo men's team win the team competition on Saturday along with Eerik Randsalu in 5th, Andrew Rees in 12th, and Neil de Laplante in 16th.

Sunday's competition was centered around the skate technique. Women completed 10km and men did 15km. The race involved a pursuit start, which meant skiers took off at intervals determined by their finish in Saturday's classic race. Dupont extended her lead and won the overall pursuit race for University women. Bryon held on through the skate race to win the overall pursuit for men. Defending champions, Carleton Ravens, had a strong team showing at this event with five top ten finishes in both the men's and women's combined pursuits.