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Thursday, January 22, 2009

Dutton Second Junior at Canada Cup 1

Plenty of personal bests as Canada Cup begins in Calgary
Date posted: 01/09/2009

Canadian athletes compete in the Canada Cup series to win points to qualify for National and Development team positions. On the first day of competition of the Canada Cup #1, over 75 skaters improved their personal best times. Among the skaters trying to make a name for themselves were several familiar faces.

In the junior men’s 3000m, first place was awarded to Richard Maclennan of Ontario who raced the distance in 3:53.82. William Dutton from Saskatchewan, a member of the Humboldt Speed skating club, finished second while British Colombia’s Scott Bickerton took third place with times of 3:56.72 and 3:57.87 respectively.

McLennan was the 2007 Canada Winter Games 500 gold medalist and Dutton won bronze in the 100. Dutton finished the meet second in overall among juniors behind McLennan.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Sask. and Humboldt Skaters set the pace at Canada Cup 1

Ladies from Saskatchewan took the top 2 spots in the ladies 500m with Kim Weger taking gold with a time of 39.40 seconds, and Kerry Dankers finishing in second place, 0.01 seconds behind Weger.

“I’m taking this meet as a progression towards the World Cup. The races were good, although I believe that my time could have been better - perhaps it was fatigue. I hope that some rest should help. In addition, I was skating a bit too high; by skating lower and being more aggressive in the first lap I should improve my time,” explained Weger.

“My next competition is going to be the World Cup in Russia later this month. I will focus on having the right knee angle, improving my turns and getting more into the ice. In all, I am very satisfied with this weekend and think of it as training for the big context in Russia.”

In the ladies’ 1000m, Dankers was at the top of the podium thanks to a time of 1:18.20 minutes.

In the lead-up to the Canadian Junior Championships up-and-coming skaters have left a lasting impression. Ontario skater Richard MacLennan had an outstanding meet and Humboldt Speed Skating club member William Dutton had a solid weekend. Both McLennan and Dutton established themselves as top contenders for the Canadian junior team.

Will A Canadian man make the podium in World Cup group A?