Three members of the Ridge Meadows Racers speed skating team are preparing to compete at Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, Alta. from Feb. 15 to March 3.
The Ridge Meadows Racers will be sending at least three skaters, and possibly four. Marshall Shupe and sisters Janie and Annabelle Green are all positive to go, and if there is an injury in the males group Jared Bolland will be eligible to attend the games as an alternate.
Marshall Shupe was hoping to finish in the top 10 in the country, but at the end of September he broke his leg. He received a medical bye for the BC trials because he was ranked number two, and was recently approved from Team B.C. short track selection committee that he is fit to compete at the Canada Winter Games.
“I am just so grateful I am able to go,” he said. ” I know I am not as in good a condition because I had to stop training for almost three months, but I have been working hard to get back so I can be competitive.”
He is back in competition on the Western Elite Circuit.
There is also a local connection to long track team in Josh Telizyn. Though he lives in Fort St. John, his grandparents Bonnie and Glen Lawson live in Maple Ridge and have watched their grandson develop into a top long track skater who is top ranked and expected to make the podium.
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