The Fort St John Elks Recreation & Speed Skating Club hosted Canada Cup 1, the first of five national level races across the country this season, at the Pomeroy Sports Centre this past weekend.
The Elks had a handful of returning and current skaters laced up and ready for this competition. Josh Telizyn, a crowd favourite, returned to Fort St. John from Calgary where he trains at The Oval, to post a personal best time of 0:35,23 in the 500m breaking the Senior Track Record.
Sunday’s 500m races were full of excitement with two other track records posted. Yankun Zhao from Alberta broke Telizyn’s Junior Track Record with a 0:36,04 and held the title for minutes before Jalen Doan, also from Alberta, posted a 0:35,95 in the same race.
Canada Cup 1 marks the return to hosting for the Elks in a post-Covid world. Skaters, fans, and coaches were excited to return to the Pomeroy Sports Centre to kick off the first full Canada Cup racing season since 2020.
The club expressed their thanks for the community support and sponsorship to make this event possible. Eleanor Ryan, the General Manager for the Pomeroy Hotel & Conference Centre and the Platinum event sponsor, was on hand Sunday to present medals for the 500m races. Local MLA Dan Davies and Chief Referee Robin Newton-Smith also presented medals throughout the weekend.
Elks skaters also had a successful weekend.
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Maria Hansen posted a personal best of 46.43 in the 500m and broke her PB in the 1000m on Saturday and again on Sunday ending the weekend with a 1:33,91.
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Subhaan Ahmed posted personal bests in all of his races setting a 47.27 in the 500m, 1.36,60 in the 1000m, 2.28,23 in the 1500m, and 9.24,71 in the 5000m.
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Connor Mason-Bennett also posted a personal best in the 5000m with 8:38,69.
