Three members of the Kingston Striders Speed Skating Club participated in the Silver
Level Regional Short Track Speed Skating meet held in Gloucester on Saturday December
3, 2011. 
Alexander Arellano, 9, put in a strong performance in the Golf division,
with personal best times in both distances raced and a silver medal finish. Julia
Patterson, 9, overcame a first round disqualification to finish 2nd in her 333m final,
placing her 4th overall in the Hotel division. Alexander Tessier, 13, also skated
personal best times and broke the one-minute mark in the 500m race with a 59.94s
finish. Both Arellano and Patterson are currently ranked in the top 10 in their
age grouping across Ontario, and have qualified to skate the Gold Level Ontario Cup
series.
On January 7, seven youth members of the Kingston Striders Speed Skating Club were in action in Clarington, taking on skaters from the Central-East region of Ontario in a Silver Level ability meet. Bantam standouts Alex Arellano and Julia Patterson narrowly missed the podium, finishing 4th and 5th respectively in their divisions, with each setting personal best times.
Kingston Striders Gold Level skaters Sarah Shires and Sarah Ball participated in the 3rd Ontario Cup on December 17-18, 2011, also in Clarington. Shires was once again a standout in the hotly contested Junior Women’s class, finishing with a Silver medal for her efforts. Sarah Ball finished just out of medal contention in 4th place in the Juvenile Girls’ class, following a collision in the final of her 777m race. Teammate Aliya Howard was unable to compete due to injury, but retains the first place ranking among Midget girls in the province, a position she has held all season. The Gold Level skaters will be back in action in Belleville on January 28-29 for the 4th Ontario Cup, the final competition in the series that qualifies skaters on to Provincial Championships. The Ontario Speed Skating Association’s Provincial Short Track Championships will be held in Kingston on February 25-26.