DUNTROON, Ont. — A cross-country skier from Clarenville is at the Canada Winter Games in Red Deer this month, Feb. 13 to March 3.
Ahead of the national competition, Jillian Coates competed at the 2019 Haywood Noram Eastern Canadian Championships Feb. 1-3.
The event, a pursuit style race weekend, saw Coates’ compete in three races under the Midget Girls banner.
She placed fifth out of 11 in the classic sprint with a time of 9:43.3; fifth out of 18 in the 3.5-kilometre classic race with a time of 14:21.27; and fifth out of 18 in her 3.5-kilometre freestyle race in a time of 14:36.40.
The sprint qualified her for the 3.5 km classic on day two, while the freestyle race was held on the third day. She had a very strong performance, finishing fifth in all three competitive races.
Coates was pleased with her strong performance in her age category, especially with it being her first competition outside of Newfoundland and Labrador.
She says it was a great learning experience for her.
This past weekend Coates joined her fellow skiers from the Clarenville Nordic Ski Club at the Cross Country Ski Provincials in Stephenville Feb. 16-17. She will competing in the cross county ski events in week two of the Games.
