Speed skaters shredded the ice Sunday night in the Yukon Championships, the finale to the 2008-2009 skating season.

A record of 45 personal best times were posted among the 26 skaters who participated. Whitehorse Rapids Speed Skating Club and Yukon Amateur Speed Skating Association hosted the event.

In each race, skaters were grouped by ability levels rather than age classes.

This is a common format used with speed skating as it enables skaters to participate on a more equal footing and leads to a greater potential for development of all skaters.

Each skater was required to race three distances ranging from 222-m, 333-m and 500-m for novice skaters to 500-m, 1,000-m and 1,500-m for the advanced skaters.

In short track speed skating, placing in a race is the usual measure of success, but comparing a developing skater's progress in terms of personal best times provides a more meaningful way of measuring improvement over the course of the season.

Setting personal best times in all three of their events were Hanna Wirth, Teah Dickson, Daryn Lovell, Andrew Lefebvre, Gillian Smart, Alexis Gee, Abby Smart, Katharina Wirth, John MacDougall, and Malcolm Taggart.

Two personal bests were achieved by Micah Cox, Caelan McLean, Zeb Berryman and Pauline Craig.

Skaters setting a new mark in one of their distances include Kathryn Fortune, Shea Hoffman, Donald Fortune, Emily Klassen, Heather Clarke, Cynthia Onions, and Bill Scott.

Most skaters will take some time off from training while some will turn to other sports such as soccer or cycling for the summer.

Several skaters will be attending summer speed skating camps at locations such as the Olympic Oval in Calgary before resuming training on ice in September.

In late September, Whitehorse Rapids Speed Skating Club will be sharpening their blades for the fall camp, which jump starts the season, and setting their sights for the Arctic Winter Games.

Anyone interested in trying speed skating should watch for our annual See It Try It event in September.

If you've got the need for speed, look for details in the City of Whitehorse Fall Activity Guide or on our website www.shorttrack06.com.

Article provided by Phil Hoffman, coach for Whitehorse Rapids Speed Skating Club.