The Salmon Arm Ice Breakers had an amazing weekend of speed skating at the BC Short Track Championships, returning home with three gold and a silver medal out of the six skaters who attended the two-day event in Kamloops.
Attending their first provincial championships, Jack Isaac, Phoenix Nash and Aila Norlin competed in the Learn to Train divisions with 1,200-metre, 200-m, 400-m and 2,000-m points race followed by 2,000-m regional team relays.
Norlin, 10, led the field for the entire 1,200-m final, shaving 4.7 seconds off her personal best. She continued achieving top times, taking first place in the 2,000-pts race final and third in the 200-m and 400-m finals. With her most spectacular racing to date, Norlin earned the gold medal for being the best skater in the province for the female age 9-11 division.
Jack Isaac, 11, raced to a first- place finish in the E final 200-m and a second-place finish in the C final 400-m race, attaining personal bests (PB) in both distances and finished 12th in the male age 9-10 division for B.C.
Nash, 11, skated to first in the 400-m D final with a PB, second in the 1,200-m C final with a PB, and second in the 200-m D final, and finished 13th overall in the male age 11 division.
Both boys produced outstanding results for this being only their second year of speed skating.
Adult skaters Kevin Isaac, Alex Seal, and Rick Hofmann represented the Ice Breakers skating 1,000-m, 500-m, 777-m, and 1,500-m races. Kevin earned PB’s in all distances, finishing first in the 1,000-m B final, second in the 1,500-m final, and third in the 500-m final, and received the gold medal for the 35+ division.
Seal raced to first place in the 1,000m, 777-m with a PB, and 1,500-m finals and second in the 500-m finals. Seal was awarded the gold medal for the 50+ division.
Hofmann finished second in the 1,500-m B final with a season’s best time, fourth in additional races, and achieved the silver medal for the 55+ division.
“Our community is fortunate to have such dedicated coaches who also continue to compete in the exciting sport of speed skating,” said club president Kelsey Norlin.
The BC Short Track Championships was the final event for the Ice Breakers season. The club has had an excellent year with 27 youth skaters and four master skaters competing at various events throughout the Interior. The Ice Breakers will resume training in the fall and welcome all new skaters. For more information, visit www.salmonarmspeedskating.com or call Crystal at 250-833-4377.
