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July 3, 2003 - OISC at National Outdoor Inline Speed Skating Championships
The 2003 National Championships for outdoor inline speed skating, road bike and basketball were all held in Hamilton this past weekend. The 6 skaters from the OISC club, Inga Petri, Pascale Messier, Stephane Tremblay, Frank Larue, Dominique Lalonde and Jan Riopelle, did extremely well. Pascale, Dominique and Stephane were skating in the Senior World Class division and had to do 8 races in 2 days, short and long distance on the track. Jan, Inga and Frank, respectively skating in the Master, Novice and Grand Master divisions, had 4 races to do in two days. Each skater improved dramatically in almost all races in comparison to their Provincials time.
Here are some highlights: Pascale finished in 3rd place in long distance races for the second year in a row. Frank skated strong and steady in all races. Dominique was able to push herself in THE zone after she decided to keep up with the lead pack. Jan substracted a big 3.5 seconds in her 300m Time Trial. With her killer sprint during the 5000m, Inga did not only surprise skaters in her division but all of the spectators. In the last race of the Nationals, a 5000m race, Stephane surprised everybody by setting the pace from the start, attacking continuously and finishing 4th.
Two days later, on Canada day, we had the National marathon, which was held in Cambridge, Ontario. Skaters from United States came to the race in order to get Canada Inline Cup points. Peter Doucet from TISC won the race for men and Meaghan Buisson from Manitoba for women. Inga did a sub 1h40m marathon (1:38:36) with the Jan's help. Frank and Stephane had a good race too but the weekend seemed to have weaken their legs.
On behalf of the racing team, I would like to congratulate all of the 6 OISC members who pushed their limits, skills and fear and represented their club well at the most important inline speed skating event in Canada.
Stephane Tremblay, 2003, Racing Team coordinator
