2010 Canadian Champions: Jade Pauley, Sarah Hopkins, Brett Leavens, & Paisley Perrie and Mackayla D’Mello

The 2010 Canadian Roller Speed Skating Championships are complete.

Jade Pauley, Sarah Hopkins, Brett Leavens, & Paisley Perrie and Mackayla D’Mello were winners in their respective divisions, with some of these skaters setting new records and even re-writing the record books.

Results, World Team & Pan American Championships Team information will be posted later.

Jade Pauley (in white) keeps things in check during the 15km elimination race on day 2- photo from SpeedSkateWorld.com

Nicole Garrido leads eventual Sarah Hopkins- eventual Champion, as well as Morgane Echardour, and Leah Kaluta during the 15km elimination race- photo from SpeedSkateWorld.com

Eric Leavens leads Tyron Harkiss and Brett Leavens. Brett Leavens set records in 4 of 5  possible distances- photo from SpeedSkateWorld.com

Paisley Perrie and Mackayla D’Mello tied for the overall title, with Perrie taking the sprint title and D’Mello taking the distance title- photo from SpeedSkateWorld.com

Olympic Gold Medalist Olivier Jean 3rd at Chicago Marathon

Canadian short track speed skater Olivier Jean placed third in the Chicagoland Inline Marathon this past weekend. Jean, who won Olympic Gold in short track speed skating at the Winter Olympic in Vancouver, fell early in the race. He managed to catch up to the lead pack despite the pack racing at a blistering pace.

Switzerland’s Roger Schneider, World Record holder in the marathon distance, placed 4th.

Jesse Pauley (in white)- photo from DuffManOhYea

Other Canadians who placed well include Cambridge’s Jesse Pauley and Toronto’s Leo Frusteri who both finished with the lead pack in 7th and 8th place.

The Chicagoland Inline Marathon was part of the Rollerblade Inline Tour, featuring a sprint race on Friday, time trial and points race on Saturday, and culminating with a marathon on Sunday.

2010 Canadian Speed Championships- Day 1

Day 1 of the 2010 Canadian Speed Skating Championships saw a number of records set at the Okotoks track near Calgary.

Harriston’s Paisley Perrie set Junior Women records in the 300-meter & 1000-meters. Calgary’s Alex D’mello set the Senior Men’s 1000-meter in his heat while Brett Leavens set the record in the Junior Men’s 1000-meters in the final.

Sarah Hopkins won all three distances in the Senior Women’s category, including a record-setting time in the 1000-meters. Morgane Echardour placed 2nd in every distance. Leah Kaluta placed 3rd in the sprint distance while Nicole Garrido placed 3rd in the 10km points/ elimination.

Senior World Class Women’s 1000-meter start- photo from SpeedSkateWorld.com

In the Senior Men’s side, Jade Pauley won all three distances of the day. Peter Doucet placed 2nd in the 300-meter & 10km points/ elimination while Alex D’mello placed 2nd in the 1000-meter race.

Racing continues tomorrow.

Junior World Class Men’s 10km points/ elimination race- photo from SpeedSkateWorld.com

Artistic skaters from CARSC place at Northwest Regionals in Oregon

Four skaters and two coaches from the Calgary Artistic Roller Sports Club attended the Northwest Regional Championships in Portland, Oregon from June 19-21. The skaters placed First in seven events and received a total of 15 placements overall.

They all have qualified to skate in the U.S. National Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska from July 25-31, 2010.

The following is a list of placements at the Regional event. Congratulations skaters and good luck at the U.S. National Championships!

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Sarah Hopkins & Stephane Tremblay Win Canadian Championship Marathon

Calgary’s Sarah Hopkins & Ottawa’s Stephane Tremblay won the Canadian Championship Marathon on Wednesday in Calgary.

In the women’s race, it was Sarah Hopkins who managed to claim her first Canadian marathon title, finishing ahead of Mississauga’s Morgane Echardour. Calgary’s Leah Kaluta placed 3rd.

Ottawa’s Stephane Tremblay broke away early on in the men’s race and skated a strong race, winning by a margin of about 1 1/2 minutes ahead of Calgary’s Alex D’mello. USA’s Josh Wood- World Championships medalist, placed 3rd.

The 42km lead pack- photo from SpeedSkateWorld.com

Calgary hosting inline championships

The last time Calgary hosted the national competition was in 1997. Tyler Congdon, head coach of Calgary’s inline club and vice-president of speedskating for Roller Sports Canada, says finalists from July’s event will head to the world championships in Colombia in October.

Speed competitions were first held in Canada in the 1970s on roller skates. Even with the switch to inline skates enabling sprinters to reach speeds upwards of 50 kilometres per hour, Canadians are small players on the global racing scene.

Read more here: Calgary hosting inline championships

Photo from Grant Black, Calgary Herald, Calgary Herald

Montreal & Toronto skaters finish on podium at Eastern Seaboard Series

A group of skaters from Montreal & Toronto raced in this past weekend’s Eastern Seaboard Series in Trexlertown.

Herb Gayle won the Pro Masters & Veterans race while Stephan Charron placed 4th in the race, good enough for 3rd in the Pro Masters category.

Heb Gayle (4th in green) & Stephane Charron (6th in green) race in the Pro Masters & Veterans category- photo from Peter Doucet/ SpeedSkateWorld

Brigitte Beaudy won the Pro Master women’s race.

Peter Doucet topped the Pro Senior men’s race, beating out top US skaters on his way to the top of the podium. Doucet was involved in a number of breakaways.

In the Pro Senior women’s race, Morgane Echardour came about 1/2 a skate shy of stepping on the 3rd step of the podium. Echardour drove a hard pace for the women, causing many skaters to drop out of the lead group. However, Echardour came short in the sprint, settling for 4th place.

Canadian skaters together after the race- photo from SpeedSkateWorld