Official: NEWS RELEASE CJC CC#3 REV 1
FORT ST. JOHN ELKS TO HOST SPEEDSKATING CANADA’s
CANADIAN JUNIOR LONG TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS & CANADA CUP # 3.
Fort St. John, BC. January 29, 2018. — More than 120 long track speed skaters from across Canada will be competing this weekend, Feb 2-4, at the Pomeroy Sport Centre for the Canadian Junior Long Track Championships and Canada Cup # 3. The biggest contingents are from Alberta, Quebec and British Columbia, while Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia complement the range of participating provinces.
Close to 90 athletes are competing in the Canadian Junior Long Track Championships for the national title. They are also vying for spots to represent Canada at the 2018 ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships, which take place March 9-11 in Salt Lake City, USA. Canada was very successful at last year’s competition in Finland and many of that delegation and medal winners will be skating in Fort St. John. They include Tyson Langelaar (MB), Beatrice Lamarche (QC), Graham Fish (SK), David la Rue (QC) and others. Some of them are very familiar with the Fort St. John oval, as they also competed here at the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
More than 35 Canada Cup skaters are racing to earn points for their national rankings in each of the distances. These include many athletes of the Speed Skating Canada’s 2017-18 National Development Pool and NextGen Status group.
The Peace region is well represented at this competition. Dawson Creek skaters include Jacob Graham and Hannah Brunn, who both train in Calgary and Dakotah Ruel from Pouce Coupe. The Fort St John Elks are represented by Brook Braun, Yuna Lovell, Amanda Mitchell and Renee Kalkman on the women’s side, and Nicholas Guliov, Nyam Newlove and Joshua Telizyn on the men’s side.
Race schedule for Friday will include the 500m and 1500m distances; Saturday will see the 1000m distances for everyone and the 3000m for women and 5000m for men. Sunday races include the 500m and 1000m distance and conclude with the mass starts event.
Members of the public are encouraged to attend. Admission is free.