The ice was hard and fast on Saturday, until Mother Nature let out a breath of spring over the Exhibition Park speed skating oval.
Warm gusty winds from the southwest, sunny skies sent the mercury soaring to 4 C, which ended competition a few hours earlier than anticipated for organizers of the B.C. long track speed skating championships, forcing some races to be postponed.
But not before Sylvia Masich and Eric Orlowsky had their day in the sun. The two Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating Club members took advantage of superb conditions made possible by the volunteer efforts of the Outdoor Ice Oval Society and let it rip on their home track.
Orlowsky, a fifth-year Blizzard skater, won the Train to Train 13-year-old boys 500-metre race in 46.4 seconds, only two seconds off his personal best time of 44.64, set on indoor ice last month in Calgary at the CanAm meet. He also won his 300m race on Sunday.
Orlowsky has been winning as well in short track. He set a personal best in the 1,500m distance at the Central Interior Challenge in November at Kin 1. He's gotten to the point where he feels confident enough on the corners to put his hand down on the ice as he rounds the bend (pivoting) and not worry about falling. In short track, that technique is crucial to advancing up the national ranks. But there was no need for that over the weekend on the long track. He just had to try to keep a low profile to cut the wind.
"The ice was very good, nice and smooth, I wish it would have lasted," said Orlowsky, now in his second season of long track racing. "Some people didn't like the wind and they found it quite difficult but I didn't really mind it, I'm used to skating with the wind."
Wind was a problem on Sunday, but steady snowfall made it difficult for race organizers and the lane markers were hard to see in places for the racers.
Masich was third in the Train to Train 13-year-old category 500-metre final in 52.84 seconds, a few seconds slower than her 49.09-second best time set on the quicker indoor ice at the Olympic Oval in Calgary during the CanAm meet in December.
Masich, 13, was the youngest of 63 skaters in that Calgary meet and was encouraged by her results after competing head-to-head with the likes of B.C. provincial team member Lina Hiller of the Blizzard club and Jessica Gregg of Edmonton, a two-time Olympian. Masich grew up racing short track with the Blizzard but if it came down to a choice now she would pick long track.
"I get to use more leg muscles in long track and there's more room -- you're not crammed into a hockey arena with five other skaters trying to get to first place," said Masich. "You're by yourself with one other skater and you don't even see them really. You're focusing on you, not what's around you."
Twelve-year-old Yuna Lovell of Fort St. John, who won the Train to Trail 11-year-old overall title last year at the national championships in Quebec City, won Saturday's 500 final, while Marina Antifay of Kamloops, 11, was second.
"My races went well, I was pretty happy with my times," said Masich. "But there was lots of wind when I did my 500. which was too bad because my last 100 metres I had to push harder to fight the wind. Adam [Blizzard coach Ingle] told me I had to get a lot lower so the wind would go right over and it worked. It's harder on the body because I'm not used to going that low."
In Sunday's 300m final, Antifay edged Masich at the line in a photo finish. Masich also raced in the 3,000 m event on Sunday, a 7 1/2-lap Olympic-style race that required skaters to change lanes after each lap.
Blizzard skaters Masich, Orlowsky, Morgan Aucoin, Max Schonewille and Owen MacDonald are eligible for the Canada age class long track championships in Saskatoon, Feb. 7-8.
