Maple Ridge speed skaters take part in international meets

The competitive short track speed skating season has begun for three elite skaters who are connected to the Ridge Meadows Racers Club.

The Desert Classic was held at the Utah Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City on Aug. 13-14, followed by the Mountain Classic at the Calgary Olympic Oval on Aug. 20-21. Teams at the two ovals created a summer racing series, to help jump start the skating season and give international experience to both American and Canadian skaters. More competitors arrived from countries including Korea, Japan, Australia and Great Britain.

Mattias Daniels, a member of Ridge Meadows Racers, is a neo-junior B1 skater and has been training this summer at the Calgary Olympic Oval.

Annabelle Green is an out of province skater for the Racers. She is a neo-senior B1 skater who trains at the Calgary Olympic Oval in their Stage 3 program.

Maple Ridge skater Marshall Shupe is a neo-senior A1, who skated with the Racers from age six to 17. He trained at the Calgary Olympic Oval before moving to take advantage of a college speed skating scholarship in Utah, and train at the Utah Olympic Oval in their FAST program.

All three skaters attended both meets and had overall positive results.

Daniels had a great weekend at the Desert Classic. He skated in the Men’s Open B Division which he reached B finals in all his distances. In his 1500m race he placed sixth, while in both of his 500m and 1000m B finals he finished second. Daniels finished eighth in his division out of 22 skaters.

During the Mountain Classic, Daniels skated in the Open Males division in the 1,500 and 500m races and then in the Men’s Group 2 division for the 777m and 1000m races. In the 1500m Daniels finished fifth in his E final as well as second in his 500m F final. In his 777m he finished third in the C final and during his 1000m race he raced in a B final, placing fifth. He finishing 16th in the overall standings in Calgary. Daniels also competed took first in a B final 2000m mixed relay.

Green had very good results at the Desert Classic and exceptional ones at the Mountain Classic. She raced in the Open Women’s division in the Desert, where she was able to reach the A finals in both her 1500m and 1000m races, finishing fourth and third respectively. She also finished first in the 500m C final. Overall, she was fifth in Utah.

In Calgary she raced in all A finals in every one of her distances. She placed fifth in the 777m and first in 500, 1000, and 1500m distances. She was first overall out of 19 skaters in her division.

Green also made the A final for the 2000m mixed relay, and finished fourth.

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In the Desert, Shupe had several falls throughout the meet. Skating in the Men’s Open A Division he made a D final in the 1,500m and a C final in the 500m, finishing fifth. However, he achieved a personal best of 41.807 in the 500m quarter finals. In this 1000m he made a D final and finished first. Overall, he finished 23rd in his division of 35 skaters.

In Calgary, Shupe skated in the Open Males division in the 1500 and 500m races while he skated in Men’s Group 1 division for the 777m and 1000m races. He was able to make a B final in both the 1,500m and the 777m races, finishing fifth in both.

The second day of racing was stronger for Shupe as he made A finals in the 1000m and 500m. He finished second in the 500m and fifth in the 1,000m. Overall Shupe ranked sixth in a field of 30 skaters. His 2000m mixed relay team also made the A Finals finishing second.

Shupe will be racing the US Fall World Cup Trials at the end of September in Utah.

If you want to know more about local speed skating here in Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows area, see Ridgemeadowracers.org for more information.

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