Keanan St. Rose knew that one little slip that began his weekend on the short track speed skating ice in Calgary wasn’t going to ruin it.
Making his debut as one of 32 male skaters in the Canadian junior championships at the Olympic Oval, the 16-year-old from Prince George dug in his blades and raised his game to a new level.
Unfazed by his fall in his opening 1,500-metre race on Friday, St. Rose blasted into the top-20 qualifiers and finished 11th in the 500m event Saturday and ended up fourth in the C-final. Then on Sunday, he was just two-hundredths of a second from making it into the top bracket.
St. Rose placed 25th out of 32 in the overall standings – a satisfying result considering he still has two more years ahead of him in the junior under-19 competition.
“I didn’t get the results I wanted but I think still skated pretty well,” said St. Rose. “I got disqualified in the 1,500 unfortunately but the 500s went well and I’m happy with how I did there. I was really close to my PB, 43.3. My times got progressively faster, if not the same time.
“I like the sprints and the adrenaline rush.”
Quebec sent 52 of the 64 qualified skaters and locked up five of the eight Team Canada spots (four skaters in each gender) to compete in the ISU world junior championships in Montreal, Jan. 25-27.
Quebec skaters have dominated Canada’s national teams for decades and racing them in a competition with so much at stake was a new experience for St. Rose, who grew up racing mostly regional and provincial meets with the Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating Club. Last year, as a 15-year-old, he was ranked 33rd in Canada and just missed the cut for junior nationals.
“They’re really aggressive,” said St. Rose, “but it’s good.”
St. Rose moved to Calgary with his family over the summer and is getting more than double the icetime training with the Olympic Oval program than what he was used to in Prince George and it’s made a difference having peers to train with who can match his speed.
He and Craig Miller of the Blizzard club are now living in Calgary, as is long tracker Eric Orlowsky. One other Blizzard skater, Kieran Hanson, a long track racer will join the three Blizzard alumni on Team B.C. for the Canada Winter Games in February in Red Deer.
The short track and long track events are scheduled for the first week of the Games, Feb. 12-19.
“I’m super-excited for Canada Games, it’s going to be a lot of fun just to be with my buddies and everyone there,” St. Rose said.
In the leadup to Canada Games, St. Rose and Miller will compete in the Western Elite Circuit meet No. 2, Jan. 18-20 in Calgary. They will also travel to Montreal for the Canadian Open national qualifying meet, Feb. 1-3. Orlowsky and Hanson have Canada Cup races in Calgary Jan. 3-6 and Jan. 25-27.
