There is excitement in the Ridge Meadows Speed Skating club, with it hosting a meet on the weekend and member Samuel Green setting records.
Green, 14, was one of the youngers skaters in at the Canadian Short Track Championships which were held Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at the Calgary Olympic Oval.
The son of two former Olympians and club coaches, Eden Donatelli-Green and Julian Green, Samuel finished 16th overall, and broke two B.C. short track speed skating records in the process. In mid-November he also set a new provincial mark, giving Samuel the records for the 500m, 1000m and 1,500m distances.
He is training at the Calgary Oval and is one of the up-and-coming skaters in the country. He has been invited to skate at the Canadian Short Track Montreal International Invitational this weekend.
Fellow skater from Ridge Meadows Racers Marshall Shupe II, has been invited to race there, against competition from Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland and the U.S.
The club held its annual Jingle Bell Challenge last weekend with more than 80 skaters competing at Planet Ice.
The Ridge Meadow Racers had 12 skaters set new personal bests.
In Division 1, Tyler Prior posted a pb in his 200m (24.64) and Fin Ludeman in 1500m (3:05.88).
Sophia Starke had a pb in her 400m (52.76) and Willa Ludeman and Mattias Daniels both had solid performances.
In Div. 2 Landon O’Neill took three seconds off his 1,500m posting a time of 2:54.87, and Paul Vodola worked hard and had fun during the meet. In Div. 3, Emmet Proud had two falls but kept doing his best throughout the meet.
In Div. 4 Nathan O’Neill posted two pb’s taking three seconds of 200m (37.61) and 400m (1:17.29) distances. Keira Lehmann took 19 seconds off her 400m time (1:06.52) and six seconds off her 200m time (34.37). Mattias Weissenborn also took close to six seconds off his 400m distance (1:23.07) and had a pb in his 200m (39.32). Kai Panou had pbs in his 200m (1:29.65) and 400m (39.32). Elsa Kirkwood took 19 seconds off last year’s season’s best 200m distance (39.32).
The club is posting a speed week event on Dec. 21.
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