Heather Clarke is making strides in the speed skating world.

The 16-year-old Yukoner made the big leap to Calgary, where she was accepted into both the high-performance Oval Program and the National Sport School to finish grade 11.

The speed skating program, held at Calgary's Olympic Oval, is the highest-level training program with provincial, national and international athletes making up the training groups.

Clarke is noticing quite a difference in the training schedule compared to her time with the Whitehorse Rapids Speed Skating Club (WRSSC).

Training sessions at the Olympic Oval can be a little more intense than sessions with her old club, to say the least.

"The biggest thing is just the amount of people, because at home there's only a few of us that can skate and skate together with relatively the same times. But here, there's so many kids,” Clarke said, noting there are 25 skaters in her group.

"There's a big group of girls and we're all around the same speed, so it's awesome to be working with other people, and you can challenge yourself that way too, to keep up with everyone else. I really enjoy it that way. There's just more people to train with, and everyone's at the same mindset about it.”

Clarke rises each morning for on-ice training at 6:30 before returning to school for classes throughout the morning and afternoon. After school, she starts in on dry-land/weight training.

Six days per week of that.

Adjusting to the rigorous schedule has been a challenge, she said, especially with studies thrown into the mix.

"It hasn't been the greatest start. I really enjoy the hard training, but it's a big change from last year, training at home, and it's a lot of work, so I'm tired more. But I think I'll get used to it eventually; it's just kind of a big change at the beginning.

"And then school is good too, it's kind of a nice balance between school and skating, so I don't get too wrapped up in skating. It's a big change, but I think it will just get better over time.”

Admission to the program was based in large part on time standards. For Clarke's class, the junior women short track time standard was 47.71 seconds in the 500 metre, one minute, 40.63 seconds in the 1000 metre and 2:35.87 in the 1,500 metre.

Clarke achieved two out of three of those standards.

"But they still accepted me anyways,” Clarke said. "The school doesn't accept you unless you're accepted into the sport program.”

Clarke applied for the program back in March after Maggie Qi – former member of China's national speed skating team and gold-medalist at the 2006 World Junior Championships who works as a consultant at Calgary's Olympic Oval – held technical sessions on the ATCO ice at the Canada Games Centre in Whitehorse.

"She was the one who helped me set myself up here in Calgary,” Clarke said.

"I hadn't really heard a whole lot about it. In March last year I was thinking about next year and what I could do for training, and I heard about this National Sport School and looked into it, and then it just went from there. But I had to apply to the school and also the Oval Program.”

Clarke is hoping to compete in the 2012 Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse this winter as a member of Team Yukon.

If she qualifies for the junior national team, however, she will be ineligible.

"It's not very likely for me. Anything's possible, so it could happen. But

I'll most likely be competing for the Yukon at the Arctic Winter Games in March.”

Clarke's next big competition will be Oktoberfest Short Track from Oct. 7-9 at the Olympic Oval in Calgary.

But growing up in Whitehorse and training with the WRSSC continues to inform her skating.

"You had to be an individual by keeping the right attitude, because there isn't as many people. The people that skate are great, and I miss the club there and all the people in it. It's just a different mindset. I've learned to really work hard to push myself, instead of having a coach or someone else motivating me. That's a good thing to keep me going.”