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Kelowna skaters secure spots for B.C. Games

Kelowna Speed Skating Club hosts Kelowna Cup and Winter Games qualifier at CNC
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Douglas Farrow/Contributor Kelowna Speed Skating Club’s Erik Haaheim earned a spot on the Zone 2 team for the B.C. Winter Games.

Kelowna speed skaters raced for personal bests and positions on the B.C. Winter Games Zone 2 team last weekend during the Kelowna Cup and BCWG Zone Qualifier.

Sixteen Kelowna Speed Skating Club members competed among skaters from Kamloops, Vernon, Salmon Arm, West Kootenay and Langley last weekend at the Capital News Centre.

Leading the Zone 2 BCWG team is Jacob Rubuliak who secured first in the U16 division, while Erik Haaheim and Caitlyn Collingwood earned the top two places in the U14 division.

Noah Rubuliak and MacKenzie Adams are both on the U14 Provisional Team to be announced in early January.

Talia Halperin and Findlay Ockelton came first and second in the U11 and both posted times to earn entry into the BC Short Track Championships in March in the U11 category. Cai Collingwood, 9, lowered his 1,200m time and edged closer to achieving the 200m qualifying time for provincials.

Meanwhile, Joseph Couillard, 9, continued his assault on his personal record book by skating to best times in the 100m, and 800m, while Levi Rubuliak, 8, improved on his 200m time.

Samantha Cawley, 8, Robert Ruddock, 8, and Daniel Ruddock, 5, and Lachlan Ockelton, 7, improved in all three distances while Xander Haaheim, 6, sporting his new racing suit, lowered his 800m time.

Jacob and Noah Rubuliak, Erik Haaheim and Caitlyn Collingwood will all be competing in the Western T2T and Elite Short Track event, Dec. 15 to 17 in Richmond among skaters from the Western provinces and Territories.

“This will be a good test to see where they all match up against the others in Western Canada,” said Nancy Goplen, head coach of the Kelowna Speed Skating Club.

“They all excel in the longer distances due to their fitness so we shall see if the work we have spent on their sprints has paid off.”

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Kelowna Speed Skating Club’s Jacob Rubuliak. -Image: Douglas Farrow/Contributor