The year 2025 could not have started much worse for local nordic skier Kendyn Mashinter.
More than a little pleased with the block of fall and early winter training that provided the lead-in to the Nordiq Canada Selection Trials in Thunder Bay at the beginning of January, the 23 year old graduate of Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School entered the event with a great deal of confidence.
He exited with almost none.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t reach my goals that hurt the most; it was that I wasn’t even competitive,” stated Mashinter, quite bluntly. “I had high expectations and it did not go well. That shook me up. Now you’re doubting yourself: am I good enough to keep pursuing the sport at the level that I want.”
To be clear, said level is pretty darned elite.
Two years ago last month, Mashinter earned a berth on the six-member Canadian entry that competed at the 2023 Nordic Junior / U23 World Championships in Whistler. Given that the 2024-2025 season was his final shot at still qualifying for similar squads before aging out, his focus on skiing and training would reach a new peak.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself this year, my last year of U23s,” said Mashinter. “It was really an unnecessary amount of pressure.”
Thankfully, a healthy dose of faith and family – not to mention access to the NTDC mental support coach – helped turn things around.
Rather quickly, as a matter of fact.
“I needed to take a step back and look at the bigger picture,” said Mashinter. “This season isn’t what defines my career as an athlete. I still have a long career ahead of me. Let’s see where the sport leads me.”
It certainly did not hurt that the Selection Trials hardly spell the end of the competitive schedule for those athletes that Mashinter and former Lo-Ellen and current NTDC teammate Max Mahaffy race with regularly.
“It helped a lot to have a next race ahead, to redirect my focus towards nationals,” said Mashinter.
And redirect he did, a solid 10km performance (at Nationals) serving as a pre-cursor of what was to come over the weekend a few weeks back in Canmore (AB). Combining forces with the Ontario B crew of Hannah Shields, Shilo Rousseau and Max Mahaffy, Mashinter and company earned bronze in the Mixed Relay (4 X 5km).
Tackling the classic sprints on Saturday (1.3km), Mashinter placed fourth overall in the senior men’s open division, ranking 3rd among the U23 contingent and then bettered that effort the next day in the 30km Classic, finishing fourth overall but second among the U23 class.
Rebounding from the gut-punch of early year, Mashinter came through with far and away the best results at nationals of any of a very talented local contingent of nordic skiers.
“I was very blessed from Trials to Nationals in staying healthy and not getting sick at all,” he said. “I got right into a big volume block of training right after Trials – and then focused on intensity and speed work as the race drew closer.”
While the window of U23 opportunity may have passed, his performance at nationals still paid dividends, even if it lies in a much more positive mindset heading into the off-season and the 2025-2026 campaign – and helps erase the bitterness of a New Year hangover he would just as soon forget.
“To think about how much effort and hard work you put into it, that hurts,” recalled Mashinter.
“My performance at nationals doesn’t necessarily qualify me for anything, but everyone wants to race well at nationals. It puts some confidence in me for the upcoming summer and fall training year.”
That said, it will be a year with some change as Mashinter has decided to forego the training venue he has called home since graduating high-school a handful of years ago, returning from Thunder Bay to Sudbury.
“I am still just as committed to skiing,” suggested Mashinter, noting that given the peak years for nordic skiers often drifts easily into the late twenties and thirties, the need to find a pragmatic balance of work and training is critical if his dreams are not to be cast aside completely.
“This is just a different route to take – and more sustainable, in the long run,” he said. “I want to be skiing seriously for a long time.”
Not the quote that Kendyn Mashinter would have uttered had we chatted on the first week of January, I suspect.
On the Trails: Joining Mashinter and Mahaffy at nationals were Walden Nordic Race Team alumni Kaeden Ward (13th in U20 1.3km Classic Sprints), Lauren Pineau (7th as part of Lakehead mixed relay team) and current Walden athlete Callum Wiss (15th in mixed relay – Ontario Team D).
Mahaffy also competed in the sprints, finishing in 14th place in a field of nearly 150 skiers.
