Members of the Kelowna Speed Skating Club made their way to the podium at the B.C. Short Track Championships in Abbotsford.
Eight local skaters competed, with five bringing home age group overall medals.
Three of the skaters—Dylan Baliski, Erik Haaheim and Kenzie Adams—will now represent B.C. at the Canada West Short Track Championships in Saskatoon this coming weekend.
Several skaters improved their personal best times and demonstrated that a year of training has paid off.
According to Coach Nancy Goplen, a lot of work was done on their starts and sprinting technique since Xmas.
“This paid off with better positioning after the first corner,” she said. “Their long distances were strong so it was just a matter of refining some technical issues to be able to improve the sprints.”
Baliski (U15 boys), having missed part of the season due to injuries, set two new personals in the 200m and 400m and punched his ticket to Can West by placing 7th overall.
Jacob Rululiak (U14 boys) also set two personals in the 200m and 400m and ranked third overall in the age category. Jacob qualified for Can West but declined his position due to other commitments. Jack Graves (U 14) skated to 9th overall.
Erik Haaheim (U13 boys) also placed 3rd overall and earned his spot on the CanWest Team. Like Baliski, he set new personal best times in the 200m and 400m while Kenzie Adams (U 13 girls) continued with the trend by placing third overall and set personal best times in the 200m and 400m. She will join Haaheim and Baliski in Saskatoon.
Noah Rubuliak (U12) skated to another bronze medal in the overall ranking and also set new personals in the 200m and 400m.
Calla Haaheim and Jacqueline Baliski, both aged 9, made their debuts at provincials and proved that they will be skaters to watch in the future. Calla finished 4th over-all in the U12 division and won a silver medal in the U10 division. She set new personals in the 1200m, 200m and 400m.
Jacqueline, coming fresh from a figure skating competition skated to personals in the 1200m and the 400m to finish 13th overall in the U12 division. Noah will be age eligible for Can West next year while Calla and Jacqueline will have to wait a few years.