December 6th, 2019, Charlottetown – P.E.I. speed skaters are back in action on a pair of fronts this weekend. Brookfield native Jenna Larter is competing at the Canadian Short Track International Invitational in Montreal, while sixteen Island skaters will be taking to the ice at the Charles Gorman Memorial Speed Skating Championship in Saint John, N.B.
Photo caption: P.E.I. short track speed skater Jenna Larter will lace up to compete in an international invitational field in Montreal this weekend. Photo courtesy of Yi Kay.
Larter is fresh from her first appearance at the Canadian Junior Short Track Championships in Calgary last weekend, where she was the first Islander to compete in that event in five years. The P.E.I. skater had her best finish in the 500-metre distance, nabbing 14th place in the field of the country’s top 31 junior female skaters, despite suffering an ankle injury just days before the competition. Larter, who was the lone qualifier from the Atlantic provinces, skated to 24th overall at the three-day event.
This weekend’s invitational event in Montreal will feature 60 male and 60 female skaters. The women’s field features competitors from the Netherlands, USA, Great Britain, Ireland and Canada. Among the female speedsters will be 2017 senior world champion and former 500-metre world record holder Elise Christie.
Racing gets underway at Maurice Richard Arena in Montreal today with the 1,500-metre event, followed by the 500-metre on Saturday and 1000-metre racing on Sunday.
Racing at the Saint John event gets underway on Saturday morning, with a strong field including ten veterans of the 2019 Canada Winter Games speed skating events. Headlining the Island team will be Carter Bruce of Stratford and Kyle Connell of Charlottetown.
For more information about speed skating on P.E.I., visit www.speedskatepei.ca.
