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SUDBURY, Ontario — Lauren Pineau was very good at hockey 鈥� and based on her recent 17th place finish at OFSAA cross-country, the 15-year-old Lockerby senior is quite the runner as well.

Nordic ski, however, specifically of the classic variety 鈥� well, that鈥檚 near perfection.

鈥淚t鈥檚 weird,鈥� Pineau suggested recently. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just so satisfying to classic ski. It鈥檚 so perfect. It鈥檚 so graceful. I don鈥檛 know how else to describe it.鈥�

The eldest of three children in a very sports-minded family, this talented teen was going to have a chance to test her limits across a spectrum of sports. 鈥淏aseball is more of the main sport in our family,鈥� she said. 鈥淒ad played at university and that鈥檚 my brother鈥檚 favourite sport.鈥�

鈥淚 grew up playing baseball as well.鈥�

During the summers, Pineau was on the diamonds. Come winter, it was hockey and the Sudbury Lady Wolves. All the while, a love of the outdoors would somehow find her and the family squeezing in a little time to grab their skis and hit the trails.

鈥淎s soon as I could walk, I also started skiing,鈥� she stated. 鈥淲ell, I would mostly get pulled on that little chariot thing when my dad would ski. I would just walk.鈥�

Jackrabbits programs in both Walden and at Laurentian would give way to her willingness to give racing a shot 鈥� despite knowing precious little about exactly what she was jumping into. 鈥淲hen I was doing jackrabbits, I had just one pair of what I would now consider rock skis,鈥� said Pineau. 鈥淣ow I have three pairs of each style of skis, three pairs of each style of poles.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy 鈥� and I never knew anything about waxing. I had to learn all about that.鈥�

Though she now has veered towards nordic ski as the sport of choice at the post-secondary level, Pineau was in no hurry to narrow her focus 鈥� not when multi-sport athletics could be so much fun.

鈥淏oth of my siblings do running and skiing 鈥� we just kind of grew up into it,鈥� said the young woman who has earmarked a busy schedule of Ontario Cup races, supplemented by a separate trek to Quebec and culminating with a run at cross-country nationals in Thunder Bay.

鈥淚 thought it was normal to do both鈥� – all three 鈥� if you also want to throw hockey into the mix.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 realize that I wanted to make the transition until grade nine. That鈥檚 when I realized that I was pretty good at running. And then I did ski season and thought that I was getting pretty good at skiing too.鈥�

The blend of those two pursuits is not terribly unusual, both benefitting notably from a strong base of cardio-vascular fitness. 鈥淎s long as you have the endurance and athleticism, you just have to learn the technique of skiing 鈥� and it鈥檚 easy to just start skiing because you don鈥檛 have bad technique already, you don鈥檛 have to correct all of the mistakes that you already have.鈥�

Where things get interesting, however, is the fact that the normal flow that one might expect from a hockey talent to the skating style of skiing is not nearly as normal as one might fathom. 鈥淪kate skiing and actual skating are really different,鈥� stressed Pineau.

鈥淲hen you skate, you push back and when you skate ski, you push to the side. My skate skiing technique is not perfected at all, but it took a lot of time to even get it to where it is now because it鈥檚 such a different stride. I am still correcting it.鈥�

While Pineau is focused on really breaking through on the provincial cross-country ski scene this winter, there is still no escaping the fact that she has already garnered interest tackling the same trails in sneakers, long before the snow flies, as was the case in Uxbridge for OFSAA 2022.

鈥淚 was not expecting that placement at all,鈥� said Pineau, who figured that roughly ten or so grade 12 girls finished ahead of her, leaving her in a top ten slot when ranked against her own age group. 鈥淚t was a hard race, mentally and physically.鈥�

Which is perhaps where the traction of nordic ski grabs hold. 鈥淚 love them both (running and skiing) so much,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen you have a good running race, it鈥檚 so much fun. But when you鈥檙e not having a good running race, you just want this to be over.鈥�

鈥淭he same goes for skiing 鈥� but it鈥檚 still skiing.鈥�

Tough to mess with perfection, after all.

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