The Kinsmen Speed Skating Club sent skaters near and far this past month representing Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and Canadian teams.
At a recent meet in Melville, Jesse Cline finished fifth while Tye Nicolson and Kharma Cletheroe took sixth place in their respective divisions, getting a number of personal best times. Seth Allen won a bronze while Avery Seman took a silver.
Seman said, “I’ve always liked the Melville meet. It was great to race one more short track before the end of the year and getting a silver medal is a fantastic way to end the season.”
Moose Jaw speed skater Morgan Capili recently joined Team Saskatchewan at the Canadian Age Class Long Track Competition in Winnipeg. In her first national competition, Capili finished 16th.
Capili said, “It was my first Canadian meet and my goal was to get personal bests and to gain experience. I was really proud of all my races, especially the 300m because I got a second personal best.”
February also saw another national competition with the Canada Winter Games being held in Red Deer, Alberta. The Moose Jaw club sent skaters Kali Ann Friesen and Marc André Doyon to the long track competition. Doyon finished 11th in the mass start race and 12th in the 500m and will be joining the Olympic Oval training program next year.
Doyon said, “The CWG gave me a high level of competition…showed me how to stay focused and dedicated while still enjoying my time at Red Deer. My highlight was our team pursuit race. We worked like an amazing team together and ended up performing better because of how we worked as a team. This showed me that working as a team will get you somewhere faster and better than any other way.”
Doyon’s Saskatchewan pursuit team put on a great performance just missing the podium with a 4th place finish.
Two other local skaters were off to world competitions this past month. Graeme Fish, who is now on the men’s national team, posted a personal best ever World Cup finish with a seventh place showing in Inzell, Germany with a time of 13:07 in the 10,000m. Gabrielle Sanson, a junior-aged local skater who trains at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, made Team Canada for the recent World Junior Long Track Championships held in Basegla de Piné, Italy. In her second appearance at the World Juniors Sanson placed 20th in the all-round competition.
The local club will finish its season with events at the Kinsmen Arena including a mini meet on March 10th. The public is welcome to free open races March 24th for any skaters with any type of skates and free try speed skating sessions, skates provided, from March 17 to 31st. To find out more, contact Heather at 306-694-4192.
-- Submitted by John Morris
