Robyn Barwise is carving out her niche as a multi-sport athlete.
Two Saturdays ago in Vancouver she finished 46th out of 221 runners at the provincial high school cross country championship - the fastest junior girls runner in the North Central Interior zone.
On Friday, she showed she's also adept at team sports, helping her Prince George Polar junior B girls volleyball team compete at the district championships.
Then on Saturday at the B.C. Winter Games short track speed skating trials at Kin 1, racing for the host Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating Club, Barwise solidified her spot on the Zone 8 team while placing second overall in the under-16 age class.
Now in her ninth year of speed skating, Barwise was pleased with her performance on the ice in the Games trials. The highlight of the day for Barwise was her second-place finish in the 3,000-metre points race, in which skaters receive points based on their running order at various points in the race at the end of each bell lap.
"I was second in all my races but I count that as winning because the girl who won (Renee Kalkman of Fort St. John) is second or third in the province," said Barwise, who finished seventh in the under-14 age category at the 2014 B.C. Winter Games in Richmond and ranked sixth in the province last year.
"My 500 final was a good race. I'm not too good at starts so I have to rely on my passing. I made one good pass at the end and that was really exciting."
Barwise moved to Prince George from Mackenzie this year and she is looking forward to skating on the outdoor oval at Exhibition Park. She hasn't raced a long track event since she was nine.
All top-two overall finishers Saturday qualify for the Zone 8 team which will compete in the B.C. Winter Games, Feb. 25-28 in Penticton.
Eric Orlowsky of the Blizzard club is also a second-time B.C. Games qualifier and like Barwise he'll be grouped in the under-16 age class in Penticton. Orlowsky won one of his two 500m races and also took the 1,500m and 3,000m events Saturday.
"My day was pretty good, I started with the 1,500 metres and felt nice and powerful in my corners and was nice and low," said the 14-year-old Orlowsky, who won the provincial short track championship last year. "The 1,500 is probably my least favourite event, I like short and long races.
"I'm very excited about B.C. Games, I feel my chances (of winning a medal) have definitely improved. I've become a much stronger skater than I was the last time I went and I feel pretty good about that."
Orlowsky also races long track and says that helps his arena technique.
Thirteen-year-old Blizzard skater Keanan St. Rose topped the under-14 boys event, winning both his 400m events, as well as the 1,500m and 2,000m, while Max Schonewille of the Blizzard was third overall. Like Orlowsky, St. Rose took advantage of his familiarity with the Kin 1 ice he trains on with his club and that helped him excel Saturday.
"I'm happiest with my 2K, I don't like long distances as much as short distances and I did better than I expected I would," said St. Rose, who started speed skating with the Blizzard when he was three. "It helps me a lot having Eric and Max push me in practice and we're used to the ice here. I think my chances at B.C. Games are pretty good."
Schonewille took 10 seconds off his previous best 1,500m time, finishing in 2:53 while placing fourth in that event. While he finished out of the top two in his category the 13-year-old still has a shot at making the B.C. Games cut. There are four male and four female wild card spots available. Those positions will be filled at the end December.
"I'm hoping I'll make the third position for my division but my competition was pretty tough," said Schonewille. "If I don't make it in my division I can definitely make the wild card."
The one-day meet, which also included younger skaters in the Central Interior Challenge and Nanguz Cup events, attracted 103 skaters.
