On December 3, the members of the local Eastman Speed Skating Club (ESSC) attended the Melville Short Track Abilities Meet 2022 in Saskatchewan and pulled off some amazing performances.
Since relocating their base from Steinbach to Niverville in 2020, the ESSC has grown in numbers and was able to send six members to the Melville meet. Another eight skaters from Manitoba also attended the meet of 79 competitors.
The ESSC members performed exceptionally well.
Greyson and Kaylee Siemens, siblings from St-Jean-Baptiste, both had personal best times at the competition.
Sisters Kalia and Mia Tétrault from Ste. Agathe also won the overall gold medal in their categories (six- to eight-year-old female and 11- to 14-year-old female respectively).
Mackenna Reimer from Niverville won the silver medal in the nine- to ten-year-old female category, and Willa Dowse won the silver medal in the 11- to 14-year-old female category.
Corinne Reimer, Mackenna’s mother, has been impressed with the sport of speed skating and how it has helped shape her daughter.
“It has been really fun watching Mackenna find a sport that she really enjoys,” says Corinne. “The speed skating community in Manitoba has been very encouraging, and she is growing each meet. We have been very impressed with all of the great coaches that she has had over the past year and a half.”
Mackenna herself says that she especially enjoys speed skating because she gets the opportunity to race against her personal best with each and every race.
“At the Melville meet, I got to meet a lot of new people from Saskatchewan and set two personal bests and won a silver medal,” says Mackenna. “And when I fell down, I got back up and finished the race. It felt really good when everyone cheered for me.”
Mia Tétrault of Ste. Agathe also sees speed skating as offering a tremendous opportunity.
“It’s such a great experience when I get to travel to a different province to compete against a variety of new skaters,” she says. “I get to meet new people and I get to compete with my friends from our club as well.”
Willa Dowse agrees with Tétrault. “Melville was a super fun competition/experience,” Dowse remarks. “It was great to skate against new people and I am really excited for how well my team did!”
The Eastman Speed Skating Club is clearly doing something right as they seem to be producing athletes of both skill and good character.
Despite the high level of competition, however, the skaters make a point of emphasizing that there’s still lots of room for fun.
“[Mackenna] says that I should also tell you that it felt great to kick some Saskatchewan butt,” Corinne Reimer says with a laugh. “She’s a true Manitoban!”
If locals want to get a look at the ESSC program, they will get a perfect opportunity on Friday, December 9 at the Niverville Nighthawks home game at the CRRC, which will include a speed skating showcase during the first intermission.
