Junio skates to best time at long track fall selection camp, Morrison 14th

Calgary’s Gilmore Junio skated to the best time in the world this season in the 500-metre while Marsha Hudey of White City, Sask., had a personal best in the same distance on Friday at the long track fall World Cup selections.

Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., finished 14th. The four-time Olympic medallist skated in his first sanctioned competition in 18 months, after having a motorcycle accident in 2015 and suffering a stroke last April.

“The 500 is not my best event, but it’s hard not to compare this race to my personal best or to my average race,” Morrison said. “This 500 was well below what I can do, but I need to keep things in perspective and I need to look at where I was six months ago.

“Things are generally trending in the right direction in training and there’s a plan in place that involves me making the Olympics a year and a half from now. I need to stay positive and keep making sure things continue to trend in the right direction.”

Junio earned the win in the first of two 500 races in 34.51 seconds while Hudey finished the first women’s 500 in 37.54.

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Alex Boisvert-Lacroix of Sherbrooke, Que., was second in 34.68. Laurent Dubreuil of Levis, Que., finished third in 34.75.

Boisvert-Lacroix, Junio, Dubreuil and Alexandre St-Jean (34.95) of Quebec City all came within the time standard of 35.12 seconds needed to be eligible to qualify for the first World Cup stage of the 2016-2017 season. Will Dutton of Humboldt, Sask., skated to a time of 34.61 but was disqualified after forgetting to wear his armband. His time remains eligible, however, for the selection process.

On the women’s side, Hudey was the only skater to achieve the time standard of 38.66. Noemie Fiset (38.67) of Quebec City was second in the race, missing the standard by one hundredth of a second. Kaylin Irvine (38.72) of Calgary skated to a third-place finish.

In the men’s 10,000, Jordan Belchos (13:20.93) of Markham, Ont., finished first ahead of Stefan Waples (13:30.08) of Winnipeg and Graeme Fish (13:53.98) of Moose Jaw, Sask.

Calgary’s Ted-Jan Bloemen, the world record holder, skated to the fastest time of 12:51.15 before being disqualified for making his opponent fall.

Bloemen is however already prequalified in the 10,000 at the first World Cup following his silver medal at the 2016 World Single Distance Championships.

In the women’s 5000, Ivanie Blondin (7:04.12) of Ottawa finished first, followed by Isabelle Weidemann (7:05.62), also from Ottawa, and by Josie Spence (7:13.07) of Kamloops, B.C.

The Canadian Press