March 23, 2015 (Yellowknife, NT) - The 6-member team representing NWT at the Canada West Short Track Championships in Selkirk, Manitoba March 21-22 came home loaded with medals!
An outstanding performance by Wren Acorn (Yellowknife Speed Skating Club) in the Girls 11 category yielded a sweep of gold in all four individual distances. This competition was Wren’s first experience at a national event, and she certainly showed her mettle by sticking to her game plan for each race and keeping her nerves in check as she met competitors from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Wren was able to race equally well in the sprints and longer distances demonstrating her overall fitness and versatility as a racer.
Jackson Christie (Inuvik Speed Skating Club) raced in the Boys 14 category and brought home a silver medal in the 1500m event and a gold in the highly strategic 3000m points race. With top five finishes in his other two individual distances, Jackson managed to clinch third place overall, a very significant achievement for a skater from the northernmost speed skating club at the competition.
As well as these individual medals, Team NWT also collected 3 relay medals. In the Junior Girls relay, Wren Acorn and Hannah Jones (Yellowknife Speed Skating Club) teamed up with 2 BC girls and won the bronze medal. Grace Clark and Sophie Clark (both Yellowknife Speed Skating Club) skated strongly in the Senior Girls relay with 2 Manitoba skaters to also finish with a bronze medal. Jackson Christie anchored a three person team with Alberta and Manitoba in the Senior Boys relay and managed to beat the teams from BC and Saskatchewan to take the silver medal. Braeden Picek (Inuvik Speed Skating Club) teamed up with skaters from BC and Saskatchewan for a third place finish but the team was later deemed to have made an infraction, which took them out of the medal standings.
Aside from the large medal count, Coach Shane Clark was extremely proud of his skaters’ performance at Can West this year citing 17 personal best times out of a possible 24 races throughout the weekend. This competition brings the speed skating season to a close on a very positive note as the best ever showing of our territory at this competition.
For full results please see:
http://www.speedskating.ca/sites/speedskating.ca/files/2015_st_canada_west.pdf
For more information contact:
Pam Dunbar
President, NWTASSA
nwtspeedskating@gmail.com