Island speed skaters grab medals at season- opening meet in Halifax

Kristen, Rob Binns bring home gold; silver, bronze also part of P. E. I. haul

Seven P. E. I. speed skaters earned medals at the region's seasonopening meet held recently in Halifax.

The medalists were among 13 Island skaters in the field of over 80 short- track speed skaters from across the Maritimes.

Kristen Binns of Stratford won one of P. E. I.’ s two gold medals on the weekend in Division 5 after posting personal best times in all of her distances.

Rob Binns picked up a gold medal in the Masters Division.

Kyle Connell earned P. E. I.’ s lone silver medal in Division 5, while Peter McQuaid ( Division 4), Miriam Burnett ( Division 4), Andrew Binns ( Division 5) and Alex Rogers ( Division 8) took home bronze medals.

“It’s always exciting to get back on the ice for the first meet of the season. Our senior skaters put in some good training this summer and it was great to see many of them rewarded with excellent times and placements in the top divisions,” said Sarah Taylor, Team P. E. I. coach. “Our younger skaters also showed a strong desire to improve and compete, with more great results. The team showed that P. E. I. will be tough to skate against at all levels this season. I’m proud of our skaters and very happy with how the season has started.”

Michael Rogers had the fastest Island times at the competition, nabbing seventh place in the very competitive Division 1. Rogers smashed the 50- second barrier in each of his 500- metre races en route to the strong placing.

Teammates Jared Vriends of Pleasant Grove and Zach Moran of Charlottetown also raced in the top flight of the meet, finishing 10th and 16th, respectively.

Also representing P. E. I. in Halifax were Andrew McQuaid, Korrina LeClair and Thomas McQuaid.

Brendan Corey of Fredericton, N. B., took top overall honours with tightly contested wins in each distance, while Sarah Gilbert of Saint John, N. B., captured top spot among female skaters.

The circuit comes to P. E. I. for the Atlantic Cup championships Nov. 16 to 17 at the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown.

P. E. I.’ s Kristen Binns, left, took home a gold medal from a recent short- track speed skating meet in Halifax. The medal was one of seven captured by Island skaters at the event.