Lucas Hiller knew there was only 500 metres of ice for him to make his move to the front and he wasted no time.
Starting on the outside lane in Saturday's Canadian age class short track speed skating championships junior men A-final, by the time he came out of the third corner of his first lap Hiller had a slight lead on Guillaume Plante of Quebec as they leaned into their next turn.
But in a split-second, Hiller, the 18-year-old hometown favorite, was down on the ice along with Plante in a wild slide into the Kin 1 mats that left Hiller dazed and winded. The race was stopped and all four skaters were allowed to restart it from scratch, but by that point, Hiller and his shattered nerves hadn't had time to recover.
Alphonse Ouimette of Ottawa grabbed the lead from Plante on Lap 2 of a the 4 1/2-lap race and held it the rest of the way. His Ontario teammates Alex Rudy won sliver and Ouimette claimed bronze ahead of Hiller.
"I got a good start and I was really happy with that race, I've been having an off-weekend but I felt good in that race," said Alphonse. "The ice here is great and I love the facility. It's a smaller rink so all the athletes are together and everyone's talking to each other."
Alphonse wasn't a factor in Friday's 1,500 m final but he did help Team Ontario to the third-fastest time in the 3,000 m team relay. He'll compete in the 1,000 m final and relay final with B.C. and two Quebec teams on Sunday.
Hiller, who skates for the Prince George Blizzard club, says it's been a long time since he took a hit that hard and was thankful for the Kin 1 mat system, a $50,000 investment made possible by facility improvements for the new rink in advance of the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
"I was trying to either win the start or take the inner [path] after the first corner and I tried to cut in and I made it but I don't know what happened and I ended up falling,'" said Hiller. "It would have been a lot worse if it was the old mats. I decided to skate the second one just in case there was a fall or disqualification so I could be in medal contention ."
Quebec women had the two fastest times in the 500 m event. Junior B racers Florence St-Jean (46.66) and Nomie Fallu-Dion (47.80) won gold and silver respectively, while Olivia Scott of Ontario (48.07) captured bronze. Lina Hiller of Prince George won the junior B B-final in 47.08, just ahead of Vanderhoof skater Alison Desmarais (47.31). Hiller dropped into the B-final after she fell in the semifinal.
Ayanna Badali of Ontario topped the junior A women's podium, clocking 47.98, followed by silver medalist Chloe Howe of Alberta (49.31) and Alyssa Skaalid of Salmon Arm (49.79).
Quebec swept the podium in the junior B men's A-final. Maxime St-Jules took advantage of teammate Jordan Pierre-Gilles's fall with one lap left and hung on to edge Felix Chemin for gold. St-Jules finished in 43.61, followed by Chemin (43.65) and Xavier Cot Talbot.
Competition resumes Sunday at 10 a.m. with the 1,000 m finals. The women's 3,000 m and men's 5,000 m team relays get underway at 1:30 p.m. Admission is by donation.
