December 20, 2022
Hudak at the Para-Nordic World Cup
At the Para-Nordic World Cup season opener in Vuokatti, Finland on the weekend, Prince Albert’s Brittany Hudak put together an impressive performance, bringing home four medals.
In biathlon, Hudak won silver medals in the women’s 12.5-kilometre standing individual start race, finishing behind Canadian teammate Natalie Wilkie. Hudak followed that up with another silver medal in the women’s 10-km standing individual start event. She also won a bronze medal in the women’s 7.5-km sprint standing event, finishing just 0.5 seconds behind second place.
In cross country, Hudak collected yet another medal, winning bronze in the women’s 10-km standing individual start classic while narrowly missing the podium in the women’s 5-km standing individual start, finishing fourth.
More at Nordic Canada
Lisa DeJong wins at Para Snowboard World Cup
Lisa DeJong brought home a gold and a silver medal from the FIS Para Snowboard World Cup in Big White.
On the opening day, DeJong finished in second place in the lower-limb category banked slalom competition and then elevated her performance on the second day, finishing with a time of 1:47.34 to finish atop the podium.
More at Canada Snowboard
Todd at the WSF Women’s World Team Squash Championships
Regina’s Nikole Todd recently represented Canada at the World Squash Federation Women’s World Team Championships in Cairo, Egypt.
The Canadian team, made up of Todd, Hollie Naughton, Nicole Bunyan and Samantha Cornett, finished 7th place after losing to the United States in the quarterfinals. Todd had several impressive performances in the pool play, but then lost to American Sabrina Sobhy in her playoff matchup.
More at WFS Women’s World Squash Team Championships
Sask. para-swimmers excel at international meet
Saskatoon’s Shelby Newkirk and Meadow Lake’s Nikita Ens had successful weekends in the pool at the Ken Demchuk International Invitational meet, formerly known as the Can Am Para-swimming Championships in Vancouver.
Newkirk won the SB5 100-metre breaststroke with a time of 2:10.42 and followed that up with a win in the S6 100-m freestyle with a time of 1:27.61. She also finished first in the S6 50-m freestyle and the S6 100-m backstroke. Newkirk also topped her own previous record in the S6 200-m breaststroke.
Meanwhile, Ens won the women’s S3 50-m backstroke, the 150-m individual medley and the 100-m freestyle. She also placed first in the S3 200-m freestyle, the S3 50-m freestyle and the SB2 50-m breaststroke, where she broke the record during the preliminaries and again in the final.
Other Saskatchewan-based swimmers also had solid weekends with Saskatoon’s Hannah Ouellette winning the S5 50-m butterfly, Prince Albert’s Ali Diehl winning the S9 200-m individual medley and the S9 50-m freestyle and Regina’s Leo Zheng placing first in the S7 100-m backstroke.
More at Swimming Canada
Grundahl, Pletz at International Biathlon Union races
Saskatchewan biathletes Janice Grundahl and Logan Pletz competed at International Biathlon Union races in Italy this past week.
In the women’s 12-kilometre mass start 60, Grundahl finished 30th place out of 60 competitors with a time of 38:17.1. In the women’s 10-km pursuit competition, she finished 33rd, with a time of 34:53.7. And in the 7.5-km sprint competition, Grundahl put up a time of 23:25.5 to finish 31st.
In the men’s 10-km sprint competition, Pletz finished in 14th place, with a time of 25:06.1. He followed that up with a 20th place finish and a time of 35:28.1 in the men’s 12.5-km pursuit competition and a 29th place finish in the men’s 12-km mass start 60 with a time of 40:41.1.
Top 10 for Graeme Fish at the ISU World Cup
Moose Jaw’s Graeme fish skated to a time of 13:08.39 to finished eighth place in the men’s 10,000-metre event at the ISU World Cup Speed Skating competition in Calgary.
Italy’s Davide Ghiotto finished in first place with a time of 12:45.10.
More at Speed Skating Canada
Clark competes for Canada in the Rivalry Series
Saskatoon’s Emily Clark and Team Canada picked up their first win against the United States in this year’s edition of the Rivalry Series.
Canada defeated the USA 3-2 on Dec. 13 in Henderson, Nevada to pick up the victory, which was their first in four games. Then on Monday, Canada won its second straight game with a 3-2 overtime decision to wrap up the series. Clark assisted on the first goal of the game for Canada, scored by Laura Stacey.
More at Hockey Canada