Carolina Hiller has done it again.
The Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating Club alumnus teamed up with Ivanie Blondin of Ottawa and Brooklyn McDougall of Calgary to win the silver medal in the World Cup ling track speed skating women’s team sprint over the weekend in Poland.
The three Canadians have captured silver in all three team sprint events this season on the World Cup stage. Their first trip to the podium happened Nov. 19 in Heerenveen, Netherlands and they followed that up with another silver medal Dec. 18 at the Olympic Oval in Calgary.
In Saturday’s race in Poland, Hiller, Blondin and McDougall clocked 1:28.73, a second off the gold-medal pace of the United States (Erin Jackson, Kimi Goetz, McKenzie Browne). China took bronze.
In the team sprint, two teams begin the race simultaneously on opposite sides of the track. Each skater leads for a lap before dropping off. McDougall, completed one lap, Hiller was on the ice for two laps and Blondin skated all three laps to the finish.
Hiller also finished 12th in the women’s 500m event, posting a time of 38.65 seconds.
The women’s sprint teams will meet again March 2 at the International Skating Union world championships in Heerenveen. The U.S. holds a 168-162 lead over Canada atop the World Cup women’s team sprint season standings.
Hiller, 25, a Prince George native who attended College Heights Secondary School, is one of only two former Blizzard skaters to make it to the World Cup podium.
Neal Marshall, a BC Sports Hall of Fame member and three-time Olympian whose mother Ann started the Blizzard club, competed on the national team from 1990-98 and won the men’s 1,500m season title in 1994-95.
