|
(Posted
8:30 a.m., March 15)
Gloucester
Concordes pair win junior speed skating titles at provincial championships
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans
Online
 |
|  Junior
female champion Hannah Morrison is flanked by Emily Rendell-Watson (left) and
Gabrielle St-Germain (right) who won silver and bronze respectively. Fred Sherwin/Photo
| |
Vincent
Dehaitre and Hannah Morrison were crowned the king and queen of the junior age
group at the Ontario Short Track Speed Skating Championships on Sunday as the
local pair managed to rack up enough points to win the overall title and earn
a trip to the Canadian Age Class Championships in Campbellton, N.B. later this
month. Dehaitre
was locked in a tight battle with Connor McConvey from Barrie heading into the
third of four events when McConvey got disqualified in the final to take himself
out of contention. With
the overall title already his, Dehaitre went into the 1500-metre final with literally
nothing to lose. Rather than vye for the lead, which is his normal tactic, he
decided to settle into the back of the pack and bid his time. When he eventually
did make his move, he ended up catching an edge and crashing into the boards with
three laps to go and finished fifth. Afterwards
he explained the mishap was a reault of trying to imitate a tactic he had seen
on television. "When
I was watching the Olympics I noticed that Apollo Ohno and the Koreans always
trailed the pack at the beginning of the race and then moved into the lead with
three or four laps to go, so I figured why not try it, but I caught my tip and
went down," said Dehaitre, who also wrapped up the Ontario Cup title with
his win. The
second year junior skater is hoping to improve on his 12th place finish at last
year's nationals when he goes to Campbellton, N.B.which is hosting this year's
event.. "I'm
feeling pretty good. I'm peeking at just the right time so I'm hoping to make
it on the podium," said the 15-year-old speed demon. Dehaitre
will be joined by a trio of female teammates as the Gloucester Concordes swept
the junior female competition. Hannah
Morrison won the overall title with a trio of first place performances in the
777, 1,000 and 1,500 metres, and a fourth place finish in the 500 for a grand
total of 3,543 points. Emily Rendell-Watson came in second with 3,075 points after
winning the 500 metres and placing second in the 1,000 and 1,500 metres; and Gabrielle
St. Germaine placed third with 2,318 points. Morrison
is hoping to improve on her 14th place result at last year's nationals by breaking
into the top 10. "The
junior female division is pretty deep so the competition is going to be a lot
more challenging, but you never know what can happen," said Morrision. Hannah's
older sister Samantha placed second in the intermediate women's division. She
finished second in the 3,000 metres and third in the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 metre
events skating in a field of five competitors. Other
Gloucester Concorde members who managed to finish in the top 10 in their age group
include Benjamin Yang and James McGuire who placed fourth and sixth respectively
in the juvenile male division; and Karine Robitaille and Camille Bean placed sixth
and seventh in the junior female category. Isaac Bedard placed 11th in the junior
male division and Isabelle Weidemann finsihed 12th in the juvenile female category. In
other results, former Gloucester Concordes member Julien Colin-Demers placed second
in the intermediate men's division with a first place result in the 500 metres
and a second in the 1,500 and the 3,000 metres. Demers
will be hoping to improve on his sixth place performance at last year's Canadian
Age Class Championships when he travels to Campbellton. (Posted
8:30 a.m., March 15) Return
to top Return
to Front Page | 
