Four members of the Whitehorse Rapids Speed Skating Club made an impressive showing at the Edmonton Winter Classic this past weekend as part of the lead up to the 2011 Canada Winter Games.

The Yukoners faced skaters from B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the NWT, as well as skaters from the host province. Some of these provinces and territories used the meet to select their Canada Winter Games team, while the Yukoners used

it as a key step to prepare for the Games.

Heather Clarke had a tough meet. Following an excellent heat, she fell in the semi-finals of the 1,000 metre race, hitting her head on the mat. Erring on the side of caution and not wanting to risk a more serious head injury, Heather was advised to sit out the rest of the meet so that she would be healthy for the Canada Winter Games.

Donald Fortune had a very consistent meet, working his way up through the heats, the semis and the finals in the 500 m 1,000 m and 1,500 m, finishing third in each of his finals.

His best result was in the 1,000 m, shaving almost 3 seconds off his previous best time.

Shea Hoffman showed his strength in all the distances by placing third in the 1,500 m, second in the 500 m, and following a penalty in the qualifying round, ninth in the

1,000 m to finish third overall. Shea topped the Yukon skaters with 1,642 points,

based on his results in the three distances raced.

Emily Klassen, skating in the Junior B Division, had a very consistent meet finishing sixth in 500 m, tenth in 1,000 m and eighth in the 1,500 m races. Emily managed to move up in each of her placements as she proceeded from the heats to the finals in each distance.

In all, the Yukoners obtained good race experience in Edmonton and the meet was sound preparation for those athletes going to the Canada Winter Games later this winter in Halifax.

The next major event on the calendar for the Whitehorse Rapids Speed Skating Club is a training camp in Whitehorse on January 28-30 with Calgary Olympic Oval Coach Maggie Qi and the Yukon's own Olympic Oval-based skater, Troy Henry.

• Article submitted by Mark Ritchie