Unlike with cars on our wintry city streets, speed on ice will be a most welcomed spectacle Saturday and Sunday at PoCo Rec Centre.
PoCo Lightning Speedskating Club is hosting the WorkSafe BC short track championships, in which more than 100 competitors from 28 clubs around the province will jockey for spots in the Canada West championships March 25-27 in Kelowna.
"It's a pressure-packed meet," said Lightning club president Heather Scott, noting that only four berths in each division for athletes ranging in age from 11 to 15 are available for the Canada West event. "The competition is very intense. [The skaters] all need to bring their best foot forward, for sure."
Among the Lightning competitors sharpening their blades for the WorkSafe BC meet include Clifton Stewart, 15; Ryan Wray, Teagan Rasche and Amy Cave, all 13; Maria Lee and Cara Hughes, both 12; and Andrea Stewart and Elissa Romero, both 11.
Also, the Lightning's Zack McLaren has already qualified for the Canada West meet as the top-ranked male in the 15-year-old division.
Scott said while the Lightning skaters will indeed garner home-ice advantage on the weekend, that really becomes a little factor as soon as the starter pistol fires. "It's nice [for our skaters] because they're not having to travel," Scott conceded. "But once they're on that ice, anything can happen."
Action runs all day Saturday and until noon Sunday, when an awards ceremony takes place.
Gold in Games
Madeline Edwards of Port Moody teamed with Zhaokai Pang to win gold for Team BC in Novice Dance figure skating at the Canada Winter Games last Thursday in Halifax, N.S.
