Speed Skaters Celebrate Strong Year

April 22, 2014, Charlottetown – Jared Vriends and Carly Connell have been named the top male and female speed skaters on P.E.I. for the 2013-14 season. The awards were handed out recently at Speed Skate P.E.I.’s 15th annual spaghetti dinner and awards banquet in Charlottetown, with more than 100 members of the Island speed skating community on hand.
Vriends had a season of fine results and new provincial records in both the long-track and short-track disciplines, including a lengthy list of new long-track records for his age group. Connell overcame an injury and resulting surgery last summer, returning mid-season to take top spot among female competitors at Atlantic region competitions and setting new P.E.I. records on the short-track. Connell was a repeat winner of the female honour, her third in the last five seasons, while Vriends was a first time winner.
Scott Beamish was named winner of the President’s Award in recognition of his athletic excellence on the national stage and contributions to the Speed Skate PEI program as an ambassador and mentor. Beamish has trained in Calgary for the last four years while attending university. The Warren Grove native placed 13th at a national team selection event last fall, before his season was cut short due to injury. Speed Skate PEI President Rob Binns called Beamish a great role model for the club’s aspiring skaters and a great contributor to Speed Skate PEI.
Andrew Binns was named top skater in the Competitive B group, while brothers Peter and Thomas McQuaid were named most promising skaters in the Competitive A and B groups, respectively. Mathew Kozma picked up Rookie of the Year honours among competitive skaters, while Eliana Monthony won the Perseverance Award. Rob Binns was named Masters Skater of the Year.
Simon Hale and Mia Stewart were named top male and female skaters for the season in the club’s Speed Skating 2 group, while Karla McCallum took the Rising Star Award in the group.
In the Learn to Speed Skate program, Liam Chatfield and Jane Bruce nabbed top skater honours, while Zachary Chatfield earned the Rising Star Award and Anderson Arseneau was named Rookie of the Year.
Certificates were presented to skaters who set new Provincial records in their respective age categories during the year. In short-track, new records were set by Carly Connell (500m), Michael Rogers (200m, 400m), Jared Vriends (1500m), Scott Beamish (500m, 1000m, 1500m, 3000m) and Rob Binns (500m, 777m, 1000m, 1500m). On the long-track oval, Jared Vriends set seven new records, both indoor and outdoor, in Olympic style racing. Vriends set new benchmarks both indoor and outdoor in the 500m, 1000m and 1500m distances, along with a 3000m outdoor record.
Trophies were also presented to skaters based on their relative time improvements demonstrated during handicap time trial races throughout the season. Award winners included: Gold – Andrew McQuaid, Miriam Burnett, Rob Binns, Kristen Binns, Ison Li, Karla McCallum, Zachary Chatfield and Jane Bruce; Silver – Peter McQuaid, Carly Connell, Mathew Kozma, Isabel Wagner, Thomas Wagner, Holly Nickerson and Liam Chatfield; Bronze – Michael Rogers, Korrina LeClair, Michael Kozma, Patrick Soucy, Addison Bruce, Dakota Jager, Jessie Deboer and Madelyn Iwankow.
All Learn to Skate and Learn to Speed Skate participants received medals and were recognized for their tremendous energy and improvements during the season.
Information on Speed Skate P.E.I. and its programs can be found on the club’s website at www.speedskatepei.ca.