U SPORTS and Nordiq Canada have announced the student-athletes and coaches who will represent Canada in cross-country skiing at the 2023 FISU Winter World University Games in Lake Placid.

Twelve Canadian cross-country skiers – six women and six men – will take part in the various events, which will take place from January 13 to 22 on the Olympic trails of Mount Van Hoevenberg.

Canada will be counting on two student-athletes who will be in their second experience at the FISU Games. Aidan Kirkham (Ottawa) and Alexander Maycock (Nippising) were both on the Canadian team in Krasnoyarsk, Russia (2019). Conor McGovern (Lakehead), fourth in the individual standings at the last National University Championships in Whistler, is also part of the team.

On the women’s side, Bronwyn Williams (Carleton) just had a strong performance, as she captured gold in the distance event at Eastern Canada Cup last weekend.

Canada will be led in Lake Placid by coaches Steven Wintoniw and Diane Poncelet.

Cross-country skiing made its debut at the 1960 FISU Games in Chamonix. Canada has reached the podium only once in the discipline, winning bronze in the men’s relay event in Belluno (Italy) in 1985.

TEAM CANADA ROSTER

WOMEN

Name                                 University/College                                     Hometown

Reese Bendiksen              University of Alberta Augustana                 Camrose, AB

Katherine Mason               Carleton University                                      Ottawa, ON

Emmanuelle Simard          Laval University                                           Neuville, QC

Nathalie Thain                   University of Calgary                                   Camrose, AB

Sophie Tremblay               Laurentian University                                  Sudbury, ON

Bronwyn Williams              Carleton University                                      Cantley, QC

MEN

Name                                 University/College                                     Hometown

Joseph Hutton                   Nipissing University                                     Lakeside, ON

Aidan Kirkham                   University of Ottawa                                    Kanata, ON

Robin Mason                     University of Calgary                                   Ottawa, ON

Alexander Maycock           Nipissing University                                     Orangeville, ON

Conor McGovern               Lakehead University                                   Winnipeg, MB

Antoine Nicol                     Cegep Saint-Jérôme                                   Prévost, QC

STAFF

Coach: Steven Wintoniw (Winnipeg, MB)

Coach: Diane Poncelet (Saint-Jérôme, QC)

CANADA’S MEDAL AT THE FISU GAMES

Alain Masson, Wayne Dustin, Owen Spence, Benoit Létourneau (4 x 10 km relay), bronze, 1985 (Belluno, Italy).