Maple Ridge’s Michelle MacKay showed why she’s one of B.C.’s top shorttrack speedskaters last weekend, as she came home from training in Quebec to take top honours at the Canadian Short Track Championships in Richmond.
MacKay, a member of the Ridge Meadows Racers speedskating club, dominated all distances in the two-day meet, taking gold in the 1,500-metre, 1,000-metre, 3,000-metre and relay. A controversial call of impeding in the 500-metre blocked her sweep of gold, but her dominance was never in question and she took the overall crown. Mackay recently made top 10 at the tough national trials, taking seventh in the 1,500-metre.
Nicole Maseja took 10th overall in junior A action, while teammate William McLennan took a first in his junior A 1,500-metre C final to end a strong season.
Meanwhile, at the Canada West championships held in Winnipeg, Ridge Meadows’ younger skaters also brought home a stash of medals. Justin Cross took gold in the relay and silver in the 1,500-metre and 3,000-metre to take third place overall, while teammate Annie Russell skated to gold as the B.C. 13-14 year-old girls dominated their relay event. Brianna Utas clinched silver in the 200-metre, bronze in the 1,500-metre and helped her relay team to gold to take third overall in 11-year-old girls’ action. Teammate Michael Warkentin also collected gold as part of the 11-12 year old boys’ gold winning squad.
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