Concordes collect 13 medals at long-track provincials

“It went quite well,” Concordes head coach Dave Morrison said. “We’re seeing some good results and some good, strong efforts.”

A trio of Gloucester skaters won two medals each for their overall rankings in the Olympic-style sprint (two 500-metre races, and a pair of 1,000 m) and all-around (500 m, 1,000 m, 1,500 m and 3,000 m or 5,000 m) competitions.

Vincent De Haitre won the junior men’s sprint and was second in the all-around, Camille Bean was first in the junior women’s sprint and took bronze in the all-around, and Samantha Morrison won silver in both junior women’s events.

The idea behind competing in so many races was to give the Concordes as much racing experience as possible for each distance in advance of the Canadian junior championships Jan. 29-31 in Saskatoon.

With the outdoor oval being open for such a limited amount of time, the provincials served as important preparation for the club’s top athletes, six of whom are scheduled to compete this weekend in Saskatchewan.

The Concordes do the bulk of their training in short-track at their Bob MacQuarrie Recreation Complex – Orléans home, but Morrison encourages all his athletes to try out long-track even if it’s not their main focus.

“It’s a tool to improve overall,” he explained, noting each discipline allows the athletes to focus on different aspects of their skating. “When they come back to short-track, they don’t even lose a step. In fact, they gain.”

Other Gloucester athletes reaching the podium in Olympic-style competition were Philippe Bergeron (bronze, junior men’s all-around) and Nik Serrer (gold, senior men sprint).

In the mass-start event for younger competitors, Charlotte Hayward won silver (bantam girls), Ian Babulic (bantam boys) and Benjamin Yang (juvenile boys) both took bronze, while Natasha Cloutier and Isabelle Weidemann placed second and third respectively in juvenile girls.

Morrison saluted the efforts of volunteers who worked hard to repair the ice in time for the event following recent warmer weather.

“The ice was actually very, very good,” he noted. “There was grass showing in spots earlier in the week, and you would not know that looking at the ice (on the weekend).”