Morning Star Staff
The Vernon Vortex Speed Skating Club racked up some stellar showings at the B.C. Winter Games Trials and the Kelowna Invitational.
Ethan Blackmore paced the Vortex by recording personal best times in all four of his races, while his brother Andrew went under a minute in the 400-m for the first time while earning three personal records.
Nate Benn and Tadhg Boyle each hit two personal best times, Benn was within 9/100th of a second from going under 47 seconds in the 400-m for the first time.
Mattias Isobe and Nathan Stewart each skated two personal best times and Daniel Hall hit one with a great tactical race in the 1,200-m to beat his rival from Kamloops, Vladimir Demishkevich.
Declan Fitzpatrick, while testing a new prototype skate, the first of its kind in Canada, was able to come close to his best times in all his races while improving on his tactical execution during the races.
The weekend ended with Laura Hall earning a spot on the Zone 2 B.C. Winter Games team with a dominant performance in the 2,000-m race.
To join the Vortex, e-mail vernonvortex@gmail. com.
