Temperatures that dipped as low as -20 C and wind gusts of up to 35 kilometres made for tough conditions.
That just comes with the territory when your team is nicknamed the Blizzard.
The weather in Saskatoon for the Canadian age class long track speed skating championships was less than ideal but it didn't slow down Eric Orlowsky, part of a four-skater contingent from the Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating Club.
Orlowsky finished second overall in the 21-skater 13-year-old boys Train 2 Train class. He won the 100-metre sprint in 11.88 seconds, was second in the 300m (29.02), sixth in the 3,000m (6:10.76), and sixth in the 500m (46.33).
"Eric's results stand out in particular," said Blizzard coach Adam Ingle. "He came away with two medals and was second in the all-around classification. For Eric, it came down to his 3,000m, where he finished fifth. It was a very tactical race and Eric put himself in a good position to finish near the top. He got out-sprinted at the finish. The top six skaters were within 0.39 of a second of each other when they crossed the line."
In other Blizzard club results, Max Schonewille was ninth overall in the 12-year-old boys Train 2 Train class, Sylvia Masich was 11th overall in 13-year-old girls Train 2 Train and Owen MacDonald was 16th overall in the 12-year-old boys Train 2 Train class. Each of those categories had 22 skaters.
"Max and Owen skated in their first ever Canadian age class meet and did really well," said Ingle. "They were up against some really fast skaters from Alberta and Quebec and held their own. Both of them had to race really tactical 3,000 metres and they managed to skate near personal best times in some really windy conditions. I think they can only get better with experience.
"Sylvia skated well. I know she was hoping to skate faster in her 3,000m, but it was an Olympic-style race, where there are only two on the ice at a time, and she finished in the top ten. Again, the wind was a factor for her, as she had nobody to block it. Overall, being 11th in the country is a pretty good result."
Schonewille was third in the 300m B final (31.15), sixth in the 3,000m B final (6:27.20), eighth in the 100m (12.99) and 10th in the 500m (52.21). MacDonald ended up sixth in the 300m B final (32.00), second in the 3,000m C final (6:24.64), 10th in the 500m (56.19) and 15th in the 100m (13.88). Masich was sixth in the 200m B final (31.76), ninth in the 3,000m (6:10.71), 10th in the 500m (52.70) and 15th in the 100m (14.19).
Their next competition will be the B.C. short track championships in Vanderhoof, March 7-8.
Five Blizzard skaters have qualified for the Canada Winter Games, with competition starting Sunday. Carolina Hiller and Nico Hiller of the Blizzard will compete for B.C. in long track at the Exhibition Park outdoor oval, while Callie Swan of Prince George, Allison Desmarais of Vanderhoof and Madison Pilling of Yellowknife, N.W.T. are competing in short track at Kin 1, dubbed Lakewood Dental Arena for the Games. Swan and Desmarais are part of Team B.C. and Pilling will represent her home territory.
