Ravens Sports Info (Photo: Charles Fortin)
The Carleton Ravens opened the 2024-25 Nordic skiing season with a strong showing at the Candy Cane Cup in Gatineau from December 14-16. Racing out of their home facility at Nakkertok the Ravens were led by veteran Helen McCulligh who placed fifth overall in the open women's category.
McCulligh's performance featured three top-ten finishes finishing third in Friday's 10km Classic, seventh in the Classic sprint and 8th in the 7.5km Skate (Free). Sophia Giangrande had an impressive debut on the Ravens team finishing ninth in the open Classic Sprint and 10km Classic races. The first-year from Whitehorse was seventh among CCUNC racers in the 7.5km free, a promising start to her Ravens career.
Carleton's weekend featured many top 20 performances with the Ravens showing well as a team. Wesley Robinson-Shaw and Kaeden Ward were top 20 on Friday while Isaac Fortin reached the top with 12th and 19th place finishes on the weekend. Seamus Williams continued his progression among Ravens skiers finishing 17th in the 7.5km Free.
The Ravens women's team continued to impress, with six racers in the top 20 of the 10km Classic, five racers in the top 20 of the 7.5km Free and seven in the group for the 1.3km Sprints. Eight different Ravens women featured in the top 20s with McCulligh, Giagrande, Beth Marchant, Chloe Ranahan and Maya Abraham all finishing high all three days.
