ST. JOHN’S — Erica Noonan is new to the world stage in para-nordic skiing circles, but she’s keen on soaking up every bit of knowledge to help her reach the pinnacle of success.
The Stephenville native, who is pursuing an education degree at Memorial University of Newfoundland, participated in the 2012 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Nordic Skiing World Cup in Minneapolis, Minn. earlier this month.
The 21-year-old fourth-year student competed in a number of classic and freestyle races, and also attempted biathlon for the first time in her life.
Two or three days before the biathlon event, one of the Canadian coaches asked Noonan if she was interested in giving biathlon a go and she readily accepted the challenge. She had three days to get familiar with an air rifle before she would get her first taste of the sport.
“Prior to the World Cup, I had never touched a gun or rifle,” Noonan said. “I went in and had an awesome time. I shot 50 per cent of my targets, which is not that great, but the coaches were impressed with how I did considering I started shooting a few days before the race. I really enjoyed the experience and want to pursue biathlon in the future.”
As a member of the development team, Noonan knew going into the World Cup that she would be competing against some of the top nordic skiers in the world who have been perfecting their craft a lot longer than her. She was quite pleased with her results given the tough field of competitors.
“My expectations were to ski as fast as I could, learn from the coaches and other skiers, and to have fun,” she said. “I finished fourth in one of my races and managed to beat a couple other skiers in my other races so I was very happy with my results. I also earned World Cup points in a couple of my races. To receive these points I needed to finish within 30 per cent of the winner. So to be within 30 per cent of the top skiers in the world I think I did pretty good.”
Throughout the trip, Noonan was pleased with the knowledge she was able to soak up, and she also liked the idea of being there with some of the top coaches and skiers in the world. The coaches at the World Cup took time to help her with everything from technique to race preparation.
One of the highlights of the trip for her was getting to spend some time with Mark Arendz, one of Canada’s finest biathletes who is among the best in the world.
“Mark showed me how to use the rifle and taught me how my body position should feel to have the best shot,” she said.
“It was very surreal to be taught by the best coaches and skiers in the world,” she added.
Only her second year involved in para-nordic events, Noonan was impressed with the calibre of skiers competing against her.
“My competition was fierce,” she said. “The women in my category have been competing for a long time. I was intimidated at first, but once I started talking to them they were very friendly and even gave me some advice to use in the future.”
Her plan for the future is to keep training hard and learn more and more about what it takes to master the sport. She feels the sky is limit given the fact she is young and has only been involved in para-nordic events for the past two years.
“I feel I have a lot to learn and improve on technically and my fitness can still be improved as well,” she said. “The standard to make the Canadian Paralympic Team is to finish within 30 per cent of the winner during the selection races. I was able to do this in two of my races at the World Cup. So, I’m going to continue to ski and train while I finish my education degree at MUN, and possibly make the 2014 Canadian Paralympic Team going to Sochi, Russia.”
