Now that speed skating season is over, Carolina Hiller has a new racing diversion, one that's guaranteed to get her heart racing through the warm-weather months.
She's into track and field now, but might have thought she hadn't left behind the chill of the ice rink as she lined up in the blocks at Masich Place Stadium to start her 100-metre race Saturday at the Sub-Zero Meet.
The wind chill was well intro the minus single digits but Hiller had those 52 kilometre-per-hour gusts at her back, which pushed the 16-year-old Prince George Track and Field Club member to a personal-record time of 12.81 seconds.
Hiller's previous best in the 100 was a 13.12 she ran last year. She's been working hard in the gym strengthening her position as a potential candidate for Team B.C. in short track speed skating at the 2015 Canada Winter Games and put that muscle power to work Saturday.
"Track transfers a lot to skating and my starts and it's nice to do something different," said Hiller, a Grade 11 student at College Heights secondary school. "My friend Rebeka Kidd got me into track in Grade 9 and I'm hooked on it."
Hiller stopped the clock eight hundredths of a second ahead of Vanderhoof runner Emma Floris (12.92) of Athletics North and a full second in front of third-place Kidd, also of Athletics North (14.17).
Hiller doesn't run distance races but is a big fan of the 200m and 400m events, which weren't offered at the Sub Zero Meet. As she shivered in the stands waiting for the relays, Hiller was longing for a return to the 25 C warmth of last year's Sub Zero meet.
"It's tough to gauge when to warm up and get ready when it's this cold," Hiller said.
Colburn Pearce is a 14-year-old human freight train on the football field for the Duchess Park Condors junior team and he showed that footspeed Saturday in the 100m and 300m runs.
Pearce won both races in the 14-15-year-old boys class by comfortable margins. His 12.12 time in the 100 was eclipsed by just two older runners -- 16-17-year-old winner Konrad Teetzan of Quesnel (11.73) and 18-19-year-old gold medalist Jeremy Matte (12.03). Pearce won the 300m race in 41.15, three seconds in front of Jason Rioux of Prince Rupert. Pearce also won the long jump (4.48 metres) and the triple jump (11.08m) in what ranks as his best-ever track meet. He planned to throw the javelin but missed it due to a scheduling mixup.
"I really liked my 300 race," said Pearce. "I've run the 200 and the 400 but I'd never run a 300 before and I tried to sprint it and it wasn't as easy as I'd hoped. I went out really hard and continued running but it wasn't nearly as fast as at the beginning.
"I always like doing the 100 and that was pretty close to my best. I think soccer has really helped with my conditioning. I did track when I was younger but I had soccer and football and had to stop doing it. The track club practices three days a week and I'm going to try to make it out as much as I can."
Pearce plays for the under-14 rep soccer team and is just beginning his outdoor soccer practices this week. He's also waiting to find out if he made a Lower Mainland-based spring all-star football team. He just joined the PGTFC for regular workouts now that the indoor soccer season and likes the team aspect of track and field. He plans to compete for his school in the North Central zone meet, May 22-23 and for the Prince George club at the Spruce Capital meet, June 7-8.
The meet attracted 180 competitors from 13 clubs, including the Nisga'a First Nation of Bella Coola. It was the first local outdoor met for Athletics North, the new Prince George club which formed last year. Athletics North coach Stephanie Gouin had hoped for weather more conducive for bringing out the best in her 20 athletes. The persistent wind brought tears to her eyes and left salt deposits on her eyelids as she oversaw the jumping events.
Philosophical differences between Gouin and the PGTFC led to the split between the clubs and she agrees with PGTFC head coach Bill Masich that having two local clubs will actually help raise the level of competition among Prince George athletes.
Thirteen-year-old Rachel Kidd of Athletics North won gold in the 100m (13.95 seconds) and long jump (3.89m); Brooklyn Stauffer won the 13-year-old girls 300m (47:09); Shelby Jensen took the 14-15-year-old girls 300m (47.31); Makenna McWhinnie won the 10-year-old girls long jump (3.00m and 100m (15.79); while Lynden Zazelenchuk won the 16-17-year-old boys 1,500m run in 5:00.18.
"I think the kids had a great time and the good part is we all know each other," Gouin said.
"They've all competed against one another for so long and they're still each other on. Some of them have trained together for four or five years and when we go to the high school meet we'll all be one big group but here you can see that competition going on. We all still talk to [PGTFC coaches] Bill and Corine Masich and we still have that great relationship."
