Ridge Meadows Racers were laden with extra weight on the drive back from Kamloops last weekend as they hauled their medals home from the B.C. Short Track Championship and Coyote Cup Challenge speedskating meets.
All four young racers from Ridge Meadows topped the podium at the Coyote Cup Challenge. Adam Abbott along with siblings Janie, Annabelle, and Samuel Green, won their divisions handily. Despite having a small team at the event, Ridge Meadows came close to stealing the overall team-points Coyote Cup trophy.
Meanwhile, their older counterparts also shone with Ridge Racers taking home four medals from the B.C. Short Track Championships. Michael Warkentin and Brianna Utas took gold in their age categories and earned their first trip to the CanadaWest championships at the end of March in Winnipeg. Annie Russell and Justin Cross took iron medals on the weekend, allowing Cross to head to CanadaWest and Russell to remain in the hunt for a final spot on the B.C. team. Their efforts came less than a week after outstanding performances at the B.C. Winter Games, where Russell posted strong personal best times and grabbed a bronze in relay and Cross earned five medals to lead all male skaters his age. Teammates Robert McLennan and Shivani Bahadur also had an impressive meet with Bahadur posting her best meet of the year to challenge for a medal and McLennan showing speed and stamina to make the 3,000-metre A final and impress during his 400-metre despite a late race fall.
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