Williams Lake’s Cole Turner is coming off a fantastic cross-country skiing season that concluded with him claiming two gold medals at the BC Winter Games late last month.
A Williams Lake Cross Country Ski Club and Team BC representative, Turner, 14, medalled at every race he attended during the 2015/16 season.
“The two golds at the BC Games were impressive, but even more so was a medal sweep at the 2016 Haywood Western Championships,” said his mom and one of his training facilitator, Lisa Young, adding the event saw skiers from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon and more compete.
“As one of our Prince George coaches stated: ‘He continues to improve and gets noticeably better with each race.’”
Turner also received an invite to ski as part of Team BC for the Haywood Cross-Country Ski Nationals in Whitehorse from March 17-27 but, unfortunately, his momentum came to an abrupt stop when he took a fall during cooldowns after winning his second medal at the BC Winter Games.
“What they thought was a sprain turned out to be a fractured ankle,” Young said, adding Turner will spend the next four to six weeks in a cast, forcing him to withdraw from nationals.
“It’s not all bad news, though. Cole had amassed so many points throughout the season to win the first-place aggregate award for his category.”
The honour was presented to him at the BC Championships in Callaghan Valley two weekends ago.
“He’s looking forward to getting back on his skis for the spring training session starting in May,” Young said. “He’s really hoping to end the season with a nomination to the BC Development Squad, which will allow him to train throughout the summer with B.C.’s top coaches and athletes.”
In addition to time at the Whistler training centre during the summer, selection to the development squad includes a trip to train on Haig Glacier of Canmore in July.
Turner’s results from the 2015/16 season are as follows:
Haywood Norams (Canmore, Dec. 5-6, 2015)
• 5-kilometre classic: bronze
• 6-kilometre free: bronze
Haywood Norams (Vernon, Dec. 12-13, 2015)
• Sprint heats free: bronze
• 5-kilometre classic: gold
BC Cup No. 1 (Vernon, Jan. 9-10, 2016)
• Sprint heats classic: silver
• 5-kilometre free: gold
BC Cup No. 2 (Kamloops, Feb. 5-6)
• 7-kilometre classic: gold
• 5-kilometre free: gold
2016 Haywood Western Canadian Championships (Feb. 19-21)
• Classic sprints: bronze
• 3.75-kilometre free: silver
• 10-kilometre classic: gold
BC Winter Games (Penticton, Feb. 26-28)
• 5-kilometre classic: gold
• Free sprints: gold
BC Championships (Whistler, March 5)
• Earned first place aggregate for 2001 boys