Megan Evans is home from the Canadian cross-country skiing championships with her luggage a little bit heavier after winning three medals and dominating the overall standings amongst juvenile girls during the week-long competition.
Evans, 15, won a gold, silver and bronze medal in the juvenile girls competition at the Haywood Nationals near Quebec City from Mar. 17-24. Her sister Brittany, racing in the junior girls division, did not fare as well, posting only one top-10 finish.
The sisters started the week by teaming up for the girls team sprint relay on Mar. 17. Completing three laps each, they came in seventh place, 50.8 seconds behind the winners.
On Monday, Mar. 19, both girls raced in the 5 kilometres classic. Megan finished third – second amongst Canadians – and Brittany finished 10th.
On Mar. 20, they both raced in their respective free technique events. In the five kilometre juvenile girls race, Megan came in second, trailing only American Katharine Ogden. In the 10 kilometre junior girls event, Brittany finished 25th.
The racers battled unseasonably warm weather throughout the week. By the time the sprints started on Mar. 21, the temperature in Quebec City was topping 20 C and setting records in the process.
In the springs, Megan made the A-final, where she wound up fifth. Brittany did not make it out of the qualification and wound up 33rd.
However, Megan saved her best for last, with a victory in the 7.5 kilometre classic, mass start race. She edged out Quebec’s Laurence Dumais by just under four seconds to take top spot on the podium.
Brittany finished 23rd in the Junior Girls race to finish off her week.