Speed skaters book spots at nationals
The Kamloops Long Blades spent the weekend racing at the B.C. Long Track Championships, held at the Pomeroy Centre in Fort St John.
The event was a qualifier for the Canadian Age Class Long Track Championships, set to run on Feb. 9 and Feb. 10 in Winnipeg.
In the T2T 11 category, Jessica McQueen won silver.
Competing in the T2T 12 division, Alexander Demishkevich won gold, Holly Antifay won silver and Dana Coulter placed fifth.
Yolaine Kampman had a strong performance in the T2T 13 division, placing fourth.
Maria Demishkevich won bronze in the T2T 14 category.
Sylvie Lloyd placed sixth in the junior ladies division.
In the junior men’s division, Kris Pynten won bronze, Dominic Villeneuve was fifth and Rylan DeBeeld finished seventh.
McQueen, Antifay, Coulter, Kampman, Lloyd, Pynten, Villeneuve, DeBeeld, Alexander Demishkevich and Maria Demishkevich qualified for nationals.
Darcy Ann Lawhead was fifth in the ladies masters division.
In mixed funnel Division 1 racing, Martina Antifay won bronze and Vladimir Demishkevich placed eighth.
Teagan Lawhead won bronze in mixed funnel Division 2 action.
Meanwhile, siblings Sara and Eric Spence of the River City Racers were also in action at provincials.
Sara won the women’s open title, winning all four events she competed in and setting a new track record in the 500-metre, with a time of 43 seconds.
The record was formerly held by Sara’s older sister, Tori, who finished in 43.5 seconds in 2010.
Eric, racing in the T2T 14 division, had two first-place and two second-place finishes.
Sara qualified for the junior long-track nationals, to be held in Quebec from Friday, Feb. 1, to Sunday, Feb. 3, while Eric qualified for the Canadian Age Class Championships.
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