December 14, 2021
Hudak, Ehman wrap up Para Nordic World Cup
Prince Albert’s Brittany Hudak had an outstanding performance at the Para Nordic World Cup in Canmore from Dec. 4-12, earning four gold medals and one silver.
In the cross-country portion of the competition, Hudak, a two-time Paralympian, tied for first with teammate Natalie Wilkie in the women’s standing five-kilometre race with a time of fourteen minutes and 59.5 seconds, picked up a silver in the 10-km distance with a time of 28:53.1 and claimed a solo gold medal in the sprint distance.
Moving on to the biathlon races, Hudak just missed the podium in the opening 12.5-km women’s standing race, placing fourth with a time of 42:18.7. She came with came back strong in her final two races, however, winning gold in both the sprint event (19:46.4) and the middle distance race (32:49.4).
“It was race number six, so my body was feeling tired especially after a solid effort yesterday,” said Hudak in a Nordiq Canada release after capturing her gold medal in the middle distance. “My legs were feeling heavy, and I was a bit sluggish, but I knew if I could keep it together in the range I’d have a good day.”
Meanwhile, in the men’s standing cross-country events, Saskatoon’s Jesse Ehman finished 18th in the 12.5-km distance (37:25.8) and 19th in the qualification round of the sprint event with at time of 4:46.61.
Ehman also competed in the men’s standing biathlon events, finishing 11th in the 12.5-km race (41:40.9) as well as 10th in both the sprint (20:36.0) and middle (35:22.1) distance races.
Coakwell makes podium with bobsleigh team
Moose Jaw’s Ben Coakwell, a two-time Olympian, earned his second bronze medal of the IBSF World Cup season on Saturday in Winterberg, Germany, along with the rest of his four-man bobsleigh team.
The team, which is led by pilot Justin Kripps, made it to the podium with a total time of one minute and 48.09 seconds. This after the team had the second-fastest run in the opening heat and the fifth fastest in the final heat.
Read more on bobsleighcanadaskeleton.ca.
Local speed skaters compete in Calgary
Two-time Olympic speed skaters Marsha Hudey of White City and Kali Christ of Regina competed over the weekend as the ISU World Cup circuit made a stop in Calgary.
In Friday’s opening action, Hudey finished 18th in the women’s 500-metre race, while Christ finished 31st in the women’s 3000-m Division B race.
Hudey also competed in a second 500-m race on Saturday, but was disqualified.
Read more on speedskating.ca.
Canada and Clark take on PWHPA all-stars
A two-game series against the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) all-stars in Calgary ended in favour of Saskatoon’s Emily Clark and the Canadian women’s senior national team.
With 51.4 seconds left in the opening game on Dec. 9, Clark found the back of the net to break the 2-2 tie and propel Canada to victory.
“There’s a lot of familiar faces and a lot of incredible players on the ice tonight and some of our best friends are on the other side. At this point in the process, we have to use every game to prepare for the Olympics and whether we’re friends with the people in the other jerseys or not, we have to go to battle and play how we’re going to play against any team on any day. It’s difficult and different to change the mindset sometimes, but it’s just part of what we do,” said Clark in a Hockey Canada release about the competition level against the PWHPA.
The Canadian team had a much more decisive victory on Dec. 11, winning 5-1. Canada scored five straight goals before the all-stars picked up their first goal with just over five minutes remaining in the period.
This pair of games is all part of Team Canada’s prep for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. They’ll continue to hone their skills as they revive their rivalry series with Team USA.
Wednesday, Dec. 15: Canada vs. USA in St. Louis, Missouri
Friday, Dec. 17: Canada vs. USA in St. Louis, Missouri
Monday, Dec. 20: Canada vs. USA in St. Paul, Minnesota
Monday, Jan. 3: Canada vs. USA in Edmonton, Alberta
Thursday, Jan. 6: Canada vs. USA in Red Deer, Alberta
Learn more at hockeycanada.ca.
Sask curlers headed to mixed doubles trials
Saskatchewan will be represented on three teams competing at the upcoming Mixed Doubles Curling Trials Dec. 28 to Jan. 2 in Portage La Prairie, MB.
On Tuesday, the 16 teams to compete at the Trials were officially announced and they include Rosetown’s Nancy Martin who has partnered with Kelowna’s Tyrel Griffith, Regina’s Catlin Schneider with Winnipeg’s Shannon Birchard as well as Saskatoon’s Kirk Muyres who will be joined by Edmonton’s Laura Walker.
Martin’s team won their berth at the Trials through previous competition, while Schneider and Muyres earned their way in based on their team’s standings in the Canadian Mixed Doubles Rankings (CMDR).
Ostepchuk makes U23 team
Regina’s Garrett Ostepchuk, who recently attended the Tokyo Paralympics with the Canadian senior men’s wheelchair basketball team, will again be wearing the red and white after being selected to the U23 team Americas Zone Qualifier.
Ostepchuk will join 10 other players from across the country as the team battles to earn a spot at the U23 World Championship from May 27 to June 4, 2022 in Chiba, Japan.
The Qualifier is scheduled for Jan. 7-16 in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.
Read more on wheelchairbasketball.ca.