Carleton skiers take two gold on day 1 of OUA Nordic Championships

Ravens skiers won two gold in the free relay as the 2015 OUA Nordic Skiing Championships kicked off Friday night in North Bay under extremely cold conditions at the Laurentian Ski Hill.

Medals were handed out following the 2 x 0.6 km Free Relay, with three different teams hitting the podium on the women's side.

Carleton 1, Kyla Vanderzwet and Kendra Murray took home the gold, finishing in a time of 17:55 to set the bar.

Claiming the silver medal was Lakehead 1, Sadie White and Alannah Maclean who were two seconds back at 17:57.

And in third place was Nipissing 1, Shelby Dickey and Kajsa Heyes, skiing on their home turf finishing with a time of 19:04 for the bronze medal.

Rounding out the top five were Lakehead 2 in fourth spot and Carleton 4 in fifth – both teams were just over two minutes behind the leaders.

The men's side mirrored the women's results, as Carleton 1 took home the gold, Lakehead 1 earned silver and the hometown team of Nipissing 1 claimed bronze.

Steffan Lloyd and Colin Abbott set the pace at 14:05 for Carleton, to win gold.

Despite a strong race from both Lakehead 1 and Nipissing 1, the Carleton team finished 25 seconds ahead.

Ben Wilkinson-Zan and Angus Foster were second for Lakehead and Thomsen D'Hont and Jordan Cascagnette representing Nipissing were 31 second back of the leaders.

Carleton 2 and Lakehead 2 completed the top five as the top nine teams all finished with times under 17 minutes.

The championships continue tomorrow.