News
February 28, 2020
Big Events, Big Results for Island Speed Skaters
At the Canada Cup, Larter notched her
best finish in the 500-metre distance, placing 14th among the 60 elite
female skaters. The Brookfield skater,
who has been training at Calgary’s Olympic Oval this season, placed 30thoverall, improving by 15 spots from her 45th place finish at the
same event last season. In the men’s competition,
William Lyons of Rock Barra made his Canada Cup debut a memorable one, with
personal best (“PB”) times in all three distances. Lyons posted his best finish, 46th,
in the 500-metre event, where he broke the 45 second mark for the first time
and posted a new PB time of 44.28 seconds in the high-powered field. With the new PB times, Lyons became the
fourth fastest short-track skater in P.E.I. history over both the 500- and
1000-metre distances, while also posting the fastest times by an Island skater
this season. Both Larter and Lyons qualified for the Short Track Canada Cup
Junior Final to be held in Richmond, B.C. in mid-March.
Meanwhile, the P.E.I. team grabbed six medals
at the Atlantic Championships. Special
Olympics Skater Logan Robbins took home gold for the Island team in the Special
Olympics division with wins in all seven races and PB times in all four
distances. Robbins also broke one minute
in the 500-metres for the first time, with a time of 58.823 seconds. Anderson Arseneau claimed P.E.I.’s other gold
medal, in Division 6 (male), with wins and new PB times in the 200- and 400-metre
distances, along with a second-place finish in the 3000-metre points race.
Silver medalists for the Island Team included Mia
Stewart (Division 3), Jane Bruce (Division 6 female) and Davis Jack (Division
14). Stewart, who skated for the Island short track team at least year’s Canada
Winter Games in Red Deer, posted large PB times in all three timed distances
enroute to her medal. For Bruce, it was
her fifth medal in five competitive outings this season, while Jack also posted
three PB times to earn his third medal in four competitions this season.
Zander O’Meara rounded out the Island’s podium
finishes with a bronze medal in Division 7. The rookie nabbed a pair of PB times and a win in the 1,500-metre distance
to help secure his third medal in as many tries.
Carter Bruce posted the fastest times among
Island skaters in Dieppe, skating to fourth place in Division 1 after setting
new personal best times in the 500- and 1,500-metre distances. Zack O’Meara, also skating in Division 1, set
a new P.E.I. record for Juvenile boys in the 1,500-metre distance, shaving a second
from Niall Burnett’s 8-year-old record, with a new record time of 2:29.566.
The Dieppe event featured 192 skaters from 13
clubs from across Atlantic Canada and Nunavut. Anthony Cormier-Losier of Fredericton topped the male standings with his
Division 1 win, while Angela Xu of Saint John took top honours among female skaters.
For full meet results and more information
about Speed Skate PEI, visit www.speedskatepei.com.
Photo caption 1: Anderson
Arseneau won one of two gold medals for P.E.I. at the Atlantic Canadian Short
Track Championships in Dieppe, N.B. recently. Photo courtesy of Amanda Burke.
Photo caption 2: Zack O’Meara
set a new P.E.I. record for Juvenile boys in the 1,500-metre distance at the Atlantic
Canadian Short Track Championships in Dieppe, N.B. recently. Photo courtesy of Amanda Burke.
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For more Information
contact:
Dawn
Binns
Volunteer
Communications Coordinator, Speed Skate
902-393-2050