Canton native David Kucia to race at U.S. snowshoe nationals

Snowshoe racing from the 2011 national championships. Photo courtesy Dion Snowshoes

Canton’s David Kucia, who was part of a national championship winning relay team with Paul Smith’s College a year ago, will be competed with his Strider teammates at the 2014 U.S. Snowshoe Associational national championships on March 1 in Vermont.

Kucia qualified for the national championships after an impressive finish in a qualifying race in January.

The best snowshoe racers in the U.S. and Canada will be competing at the 2014 Dion Snowshoes U.S. National Snowshoe Championships at Prospect Mountain Ski Area in snowy Woodford, Vermont.

A student at Paul Smith’s College student majoring in fisheries and wildlife sciences, Kucia locked up the spot at the national event after qualifying at the Cock-A-Doodle-Shoe race, held in Saranac, N.Y., on Jan. 18.

Despite the extremely cold conditions the past few weeks, Kucia has been training and racing in the United States and Canada to prepare for some major races over the next six weeks. He competed in the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival snowshoe races at Dewey Mountain on Wednesday, Feb. 5, the International Snowshoe Championships in Granby, Quebec, on Saturday, Feb. 8, and the Empire State Winter Games snowshoe races at the Paul Smith’s College VIC on Sunday, Feb. 9.

Paul Smith’s College is located in upstate New York in the town of Brighton.