Northern speed skaters set records, personal bests at Canada Games

A 15-year-old speed skater from Yellowknife placed eighth in the 1500m short track event at the Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, Alta., yesterday, the N.W.T.'s best score since 2007, when Jill Gilday placed 6th.

Yellowknife's Wren Acorn says she was proud of herself for making the finals after facing tough competition in the qualifying race.  

"My teammates were screaming, and my mom was screaming," she told Trailbreaker host Loren McGinnis.

"We had a little moment of celebration, and then it was back down to refocusing because i couldn't allow myself to get distracted, I still had one race to go."

There was not a weak link in that whole race.- Wren Acorn, Speed Skater, Team NWT

Acorn says the confidence-boosting race helped set her up for what to expect in the finals.  

"There was not a weak link in that whole race," she said.

At one point in the final race Acorn moved into second position. That's when she and another medal contender were taken out in a dramatic tumble by Ontario's Claudia Heaney, a skater who took a bronze medal at the Canadian Juniors last month.

"I was looking to make a pass so I was in a pretty good position when it happened," says Acorn.

Acorn says she was disappointed, but she's still thrilled with her performance against World Cup qualifying skaters.

"Honestly I made an 'A' final at the CWG [Canada Winter Games]. No matter how it went I would have been happy with it."

Acorn's coach, Shane Clark, said Acorn's performance was "significant."

"It puts her in the conversation about international skating and she's been attending all the national competitions here for two years now."

Other records and personal bests

It was also a record-breaking day for the N.W.T.'s men's team and skaters from Nunavut and the Yukon.

The N.W.T.'s men's relay team beat the territory's best record in the relay by about two seconds, says Clark. "We tried a little bit of a new strategy with some of the laps and they followed it to a tee and I think it was a success."

The result places Team N.W.T. in the B final, which means there's still a chance of a medal, said Clark.

Meanwhile, Hayden Hickey broke Nunavut's 1,500m record, and Taryn Lavalée did in the same at that distance in the women's race yesterday.

Hickey, Lavallée, and teammates Emma Carpenter and Akutaq Williamson-Bathory, all hit personal bests in their 500m and 1,500m races.

"We actually had the quickest race out of all the finals in my division,"  said Hickey, referring to the relay.

"Coming out of it with amazing [personal bests], broken records, it's amazing."

Two brothers from Yukon, Micah and Caius Taggart-Cox also set personal bests; Micah in the 500m on Sunday and Caius in the 1500m.