Four Prince George Blizzard speed skaters hit the fast lanes at the Olympic Oval in Calgary on the weekend at the second Canada Cup of the season.
Twelve races were spread out over four days from Jan. 2-5.
Although he wasn't in attendance, Blizzard coach Adam Hiller said Canada Cup meets feature some of the best speed skaters in the country.
"Basically, if you are not on the national team, you are racing the Canada Cups," he said in a written statement. "There are some really fast people there."
In the ladies events, Carolina Hiller clocked a time of two minutes 12.95 seconds to finish 13th in the 1,500-metre distance. She was 16th in the 3,000m (4:47.18). In the 500m, she was 16th in both the first race (42.95 seconds) and the second race (42.74). In the 1,000m, she was 22nd in the first race (1:27.12) and 17th in the second race (1:26.06).
Samara Thew of the Blizzard was 34th in the 1,500m (2:25.14) and 26th in the 3,000m (5:02.94). She was 43rd in the first race of the 500m (47.57) and 40th in the second race (48.18). Thew clocked 1:36.84 to finish 40th in the first 1,000m race and 1:35.97 in the second race.
On the men's side, Nico Hiller was 18th in the 1,500m with a time of 1:56.72, while Lucas Hiller was 40th with a time of 2:02.96, a personal best.
Morgon Bennison of Fort St. James was 52nd (2:08.82), while Vanderhoof skater Matthew Ebert was 58th (2:13.64).
In the 5,000m, Nico Hiller was eighth, clocking 7:11.85, while Lucas Hiller was 30th (7:44.94). Bennison was 36th (7:51.83).
In the first race of the 500m, Nico Hiller was 19th, clocking 38.27 and was 15th in the second race (38.05). Lucas Hiller was 28th in the first 500m, posting a time of 38.98. He was 24th in the second race (38.55).
Ebert was 56th in the first race (41.37) and 53rd in the second race (41.75).
Bennison was 60th in the first race (42.42) and 54th in the second race (42.01).
Nico Hiller finished 10th in the first race of the 1,000m with a time of 1:15.48. He did not race in the second event.
Bennison and Ebert both competed in the eight-lap long distance mass start race where Bennison finished fourth and Ebert claimed ninth.
All three of the Hillers skated well, and each had a different focus," said coach Hiller. "Nico was looking to put up some fast times with hopes of achieving World Cup standards in all of his races and was successful in making this goal. He set personal best times in his 500m and 1,000m.
Lina [Carolina] took this opportunity to work on some technical aspects of her skating. Because of the weather so far this winter, there have not been many opportunities to work on long track technique with Lina.
Samara continues to focus on her training at the Calgary Oval and has experienced some ups and downs as she transitions from her figure skates to her speed skates. Sometimes the result isnt what we would have hoped for, but she is getting stronger as the season progresses and shows improvement in almost every competition.
Next up for the Blizzard is the B.C. Long Track Championships at the Prince George Outdoor Ice Oval Jan. 17-18.
That's followed by the Coyote Cup short track meet in Kamloops.