For any athlete, the chance to compete with the best of your peers in a high-profile multisport event like the B.C. Games might come once in a lifetime.
Keanan St. Rose isn’t like most athletes.
He’s a four-time B.C. Games qualifier.
The 15-year-old Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating Club member was cut above the rest of the skaters on the short track ice at Kin 1 arena in Saturday’s Central Interior Challenge/Zone 8 B.C. Winter Games qualifying event.
St. Rose had one stumble when he caught the boot of his skate on the mat that pads the boards around the rink and fell 1 ½ laps into the under-16 boys 500-metre final. But it was smooth sailing the rest of the way and he went on to win the 1,000m and 1,500m events.
“The 1,000 isn’t my best event, it’s either the 1,500 and 500 - I made it through the heats in the 500 but in the A-final I fell and so I came third,” said St. Rose, who was relishing his one and only chance this season to race in front of familiar faces surrounding the Olympic-sized rink at Kin 1.
“Everyone can come and watch and you get support. Sometimes my dad (Auton) isn’t able to make the races, so he gets to watch.”
St. Rose and Blizzard clubmate Kieran Hanson locked up the top two overall finishes to claim the two male under-16 berths open to Zone 8 skaters for the short track events at the B.C. Winter Games in Kamloops. Feb. 22-25.
And when he gets there, St. Rose has reason to believe he will be a medal favourite. Two years ago as a 13-year-old at the 2016 B.C. Winter Games in Penticton he won five medals in the under-14 age class – three gold, one silver and two bronze.
The Duchess Park secondary school student competed twice at the B.C. Summer Games in soccer with the Zone 8 team (in Nanaimo in 2015 and Abbotsford in 2017).
This year, skating among his national peers in the Junior 1 category this year, St. Rose ranks 33rd in Canada. At the Canadian Open qualifying meet three weeks ago in Calgary he just missed qualifying for the Canadian junior (under-21) short track championships but will be the first to get called if any of the 32 skaters above him in the rankings gets sick or injured or is unable to attend the meet in Quebec, Dec. 15-17.
Failing that, the B.C. Winter Games and the second junior team selection meet in Calgary in March will be the biggest events of the season for St. Rose.
As a long-track skater at a summer meet in Calgary, St. Rose got personal bests in all his distances but he’s not all that keen on racing 400m ovals.
“It’s not my thing,” said St. Rose, who started short track with the Blizzard club before his fourth birthday.
During that trip to Calgary he got to watch the Korean national short track team training and will be seeing them again on TV watching the Olympics in February.
“That was awesome, they’re so fast,” he said.
St. Rose totalled 2,666 points for his three individual events (500m, 1,000m and 1,500m) with a 2,666-point total. Hanson was second with 2,298 points, Craig Miller of Prince George was third (1,805) and Joshua Telizyn of Fort St. John was fourth (1,621).
Hanson finished second to St. Rose in the 1,500 A-final, an unexpected result for the 14-year-old Vanderhoof native. Hanson was sitting fourth three laps into the 13 ½-lap race when Telizyn stepped on one of the pucks that mark the lanes, causing him to fall, and he took out Miller in the process.
“That was the first race I’ve seen Craig take Josh out with the puck on the corner,” Hanson.
Hanson also placed second in the 500 A-final when he and Miller took advantage of St. Rose’s fall. “That was great, I was like wow, he’s down, let’s go. It was a great opportunity.
“This year my skating is a lot more steady, I don’t fall nearly as much. Last year I was falling three times a meet. It feels a lot better.”
Hanson, who moved to Prince George three years ago, is now in his seventh year of racing short track. He prefers long track racing and can’t wait to start practicing his outdoor form on the Exhibition Park oval, as soon as it gets cold enough to keep the ice firm.
Due to the strength of the Zone 8 skaters and the times he posted, Miller will qualify as a wild-card entry in the Games.
Brooke Braun of Fort St. John was the only female skater in the U-16 age category on the ice at Kin 1 Saturday and automatically claimed her Zone 8 B.C. Games berth. -
Jack Hanson, Kieran’s 12-year-old brother, also qualified for the Games in the U-14 category. Ty Lauren of Williams Lake will join him on the U-14 male team. Hannah North and Sidney Bennie, both of Fort St. John, will represent Zone 8 on the female U-14 events.
The one-day meet attracted 95 skaters from seven clubs.
This is the last time the B.C. Games will be open to two age categories. It will become strictly a U-14 event for short track in 2020. St. Rose’s birthday is late in the year and he just made the age qualifying criteria.
“Keanan is lucky, he’s probably one of the few kids in the province who has done four B.C. Games,” said Lorelei St. Rose, the Blizzard club’s advanced group coach. “He hit it just right and they have tons of fun, he just loved it and he’s always looking forward to going.”
Next up for the local skaters is the Western Elite Circuit meet in Richmond, Dec. 15-17, a qualifier for B.C. team trials for the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer.
