The Mission Racers Speed Skating Club hosted the 2017 BC Short Track Speed Skating Championships last weekend at the Abbotsford Centre, and welcomed 145 skaters from across the province.
Champions were named in age and gender categories with several Fraser Valley skaters stepping onto the podium at the end of the weekend.
In Learn to Train (L2T) Female B, Mission racer Marleigh Mitchell came back from a hard fall to earn the Iron Medal.
Despite being called for a technical foul and suffering a crash, Sammy Green of Mission won silver in L2T Male A, while his sister Annabelle Green won gold in Train to Train (T2T) Female 13. They are following a rich tradition as their mother Eden Donatelli-Green is a double Olympic medalist. Both of the Green children are coached by their parents.
The Matsqui Blades were well represented at the meet with Clara Johnson winning gold in T2T F11. She won each of her events, earning the maximum 4000 points.
Mission Racer Asher Barnsdale took the top step in T2T M12 with a personal record skated in every distance. Jared Bolland completed a comeback from a broken leg with a silver medal in T2T M14. Both have been offered positions on Team BC for the upcoming Canada West Championship to be held this year in Saskatoon. The Mission racers are bidding to host this event in 2018.
Mike Hagen, a long-time volunteer and official also stepped on the podium, earning a gold medal in the Men's 60 plus division.
For complete results from the event, visit speed-skating.bc.ca.