The practices started three years ago for Sarah Pousette and her B.C. team relay teammates.
The payoff came Wednesday in the form of a gold medal at the Canada Winter Games in downtown Halifax.
Pousette, a 19-year-old Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating Club member, joined forces with Alison Banwell of Kelowna, and Kamloops skaters Josie Spence and Tori Spence to win the 3,000-metre women's long track speed skating team pursuit in a time of 3:36.62, just ahead of Quebec (3:37.45) and (Alberta (3:38.38).
The girls from B.C. knew they'd finished ahead of the Quebec skaters, but there were some anxious moments waiting to see if either Alberta or Ontario, the other finalists, would beat B.C.' s time.
"It was our last race, so it was a really good way to end it, because the week didn't start out the way I wanted it to," said Pousette. "The race went according to plan. We've been practicing it for a long time (at Team B.C. training camps that started three years ago) so it was nice to put it all on the table and skate exactly how we wanted to.
It was pretty amazing. They are the nicest medals I've ever seen for Canada Games."
In a 3,000m team relay, all four skaters on each team have to try to stick together for six laps, knowing the clock won't stop until the third skater is across the finish line. Banwell, the best sprinter of the bunch, was first off the line to start the race, followed on the second lap by Josie Spence, Pousette, then Tori Spence, who led the pursuit for B.C. in the fourth and sixth laps. Josie Spence also led B.C's fifth lap.
"The third lap is one of the hardest laps to lead because it's when you start to get tired," said Pousette. "You have to go from a sprint to being able to maintain your speed for the next three laps."
B.C. was paired with Quebec and was seeded third in the event, but Pousette was convinced before the race hers was the strongest of seven teams. Because of that, they had to wait until Ontario and Alberta (the top seeds) battled each other in the other pairing.
In the men's pursuit, Phillip Shrimpton of Prince George helped B.C. to a sixth-place finish. Also on the team were Braden Clouthier of Dawson Creek, Aeden Giffin of Vancouver and Jamie Inglis of Chase.
B.C. finished in 4:36.07. Quebec (4:23.65), Saskatchewan (4:30.56) and Manitoba (4:32.30) were the medalists. Shrimpton was also 20th in the 100m sprint Wednesday, finishing second in the Group 3 final in 11.20 seconds.
Pousette placed sixth in the individual 3,000m race on Tuesday. Coming off an illness a week ago, she was ninth in the 1,00m and 1,500m races and 14th in the 500m.
"I've wanted this for so long and it's almost relieving in the sense that I knew what I could do at the Games and I finally came out with the result I wanted," said Pousette, whose parents John and Anne made the trip from Prince George to watch her skate.
The artificial ice oval is situated in the heart of Halifax and races there have attracted full stands.
"It's right downtown and we've had huge crowds every day," said Pousette, who placed 16th Wednesday in the 100m sprint. "You can't hear your coaches yelling at you because the crowds are yelling so much. The ice was amazing, I've never seen out door ice that good before.
"I'm so excited that Prince George has a chance to host this kind of an event (in 2015). You'll never experience anything like this other than the Olympics."
Now that all her Canada Games races are behind her, Pousette can enjoy the rest of the week as a Games spectator. She plans to attend the team relays in short track today, where she will see Tim Hempsall of Prince George compete for B.C.
Pousette, a second-year University of Calgary economics major, is trying to get on the national team's talent squad within the next year and hopes to solidify that spot at Canada Cup races next month in Calgary.
Hempsall finished 10th overall in the men's 1,000m event on Wednesday. After placing third in the qualifying final in a time of 1:31.57, he ended up second in the C-final in 1:35.95.
