Considering where they were seeded for the 2015 Canada Winter Games long track speed skating competition, Lina Hiller and her twin brother Nico were overachievers in Sunday's opening races.
The 17-year-old hometown favourites at the Exhibition Park outdoor oval swapped their Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating Club colours for Team B.C. racing suits and came within a heartbeat of bringing home medals.
Lina finished fifth out of 32 female skaters, a mere 64/100ths of a second behind bronze medalist Adeline Maudner of Edmonton.
"I an so happy, I was not expecting that high of a finish and it feels good to realize all the hard work I've been putting in and the technical stuff I've been working on and improving is starting to pay off," said Lina, who started in the 11th of 16 pairs in the 1,500. "I had a really strong start and didn't die, the last lap I was able to hold it together and really push through."
Pairings are based on the best seed times achieved this season on 400m ovals, with the slower skaters starting Sunday's race ahead of the faster ones.
Nico began the men's 3,000m race in the seventh pairing. He ended up in a four-skater battle for third place along with Alberta skaters Kevin Yaholnitsky and Adrian Hannigan and Laurent Marcotte of Quebec. Hiller's sixth-place time of 4:27.59 was 1.56 seconds behind Yaholnitsky, who won bronze.
"This was a really good race, I really enjoyed it," said Nico. "That bridge between third and sixth -- everybody was so tight in between. I had a good first two laps which really helped me out in the end because my last two laps were a bit slower.
"Beforehand I was thinking the ice wasn't going to be too good but it is really good right now. It was really fast and if it stays like this it will be here for the week. It looks awesome."
For the Hillers, who started out as preschoolers racing short track with the Blizzard, the chance to showcase their talents on the outdoor oval on a national stage is a dream come true.
"The home ice and crowd really helped me, I could hear my friends and family up in the stands," said Lina. "We only get to train once or twice a week on the oval and this year it's been up and down so we haven't been able to go out as much."
"I didn't feel too much pressure," said Nico. "I was just really happy and excited that people were yelling my name from the stands. There are a lot of people here."
The Hillers are staying with the B.C. team in a downtown hotel and Nico blown away by the experience of interacting with other athletes from other sports while they take part in activities away from the rink.
"It doesn't feel like I'm home, everything is so different," he said. "You see people from the B.C. team you don't even know and you give them a high-five, we're all friends around here, which is really awesome."
After warm weather and rain Thursday and Friday softened up the ice on the oval and forced organizers to postpone the opening races, conditions were superb for Sunday's races, which got underway under the lights at 7 a.m.
Three weeks ago, right after the oval was used for the provincial long track championships, a warming trend melted the ice to the depth of the lane-marking tape, which floated to the surface, shifted and had to be replaced . The oval has been closed to the public since then to allow time for that tape to get frozen back in the ice. When it got warm last week, crews covered the tape with snow to prevent that from happening again.
Kathy Lewis, president of the Outdoor Ice Oval Society which oversees the crews of volunteers who build and maintain the ice, was paid the ultimate compliment by the athletes who raced Sunday.
"I just overheard a couple skaters from Alberta who said it was the best outdoor ice they've ever been on," said Lewis. "I had to give them a hug when I heard that.
"We are so ecstatic that we have skaters on the ice right now. It's been a lot of work but it's all worth it. So far it's holding up alright."
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