Powerhouse performance

Kyle Power skated away with his best national results yet during a recent competition in the Yukon.

Power placed fifth in the 15-kilometre free skate in university standings, 18th as a junior male, and 53rd overall at the 2010 Haywood Ski Nationals in Whitehorse, Yukon, on March 17.

The Carleton Men's Ski Team, which he is a part of, also won the overall university championships.

Power explained since a lot of competitive skiers do not attend school, competing for a university title was a way to recognize those athletes that work so hard racing and attending university; he thinks it takes a fine balance to be successful in both.

Over the course of the championships he competed in the team sprint, 10 km classic, 15 km skate, individual sprint, and 20 km classic.

He said his goals were to make top 20 in the junior male placement and to have a really good university placing.

Power said he was not as consistent as he would have liked throughout the week, which he thinks shows the ability of junior Canadian skiers and what they can do on any given day.

"I did reach my goals on one particular day - 15km skate event," he said. "I knew this was my best race and best shot for a good results. So I was pleased that I achieved this goal."

He also enjoyed racing with his XC Ottawa teammate Lee Hawkings in the team sprint challenge. Although they weren't medal contenders that day, he thinks racing together was a good way to end the year.

"Nationals are always tough since they are usually the last races of the season," he added. "Nationals are also the biggest races of the year and to some extent what I train 11 out of 12 months of the entire year for."

Power explained he started his final preparations at the Olympics where he was a forerunner and had an opportunity to train in a unique environment. After he came back to Ottawa he did much shorter hours of training with a few local ski races to recover and hopefully peak for the nationals.

He said the course at nationals was very tough with some of the steadiest climbing on a racecourse in Canada.

"Well racing in the Whitehorse, Yukon is about as close as it gets to racing the Nationals back home at Menihek (Nordic Ski Club)," said Power. "The temps were relatively cold for the week, which meant hard pack tracks, conditions that I am used to skiing in and have suitable skis for."

He said he enjoys the culture in the Yukon since it is so similar to home and nationals are one of his favourite events because he gained a lot of racing experience at a high level, which he hopes will gradually make him better.

Power is finished skiing for the season; he plans to get some rest and then get back to dry-land training in May.

If there's anything he would recommend to up-and-coming skiers back home, it is to work hard and dream big, as he was always told to do.