Kali Christ and Leader-Post Sports
Reporter Murray Mccormick.
Patchy Performance Puts Christ on Podium
Murray McCormick, The Leader-Post
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Kali Christ left an impression with her patches at the
Canadian age-class long track speed skating championships.
On the left side of her warm-up jacket was the logo for the
championships, which the Grade 12 Winston Knoll student had designed. On her
right buttock, was a large purple heart which had been sewn on to cover a
tear in her speed skating suit.
Christ also stood out on the weekend for her performance in
the intermediate women's division. Christ collected two gold medals and two
silver ones. Christ, 17, tied Manitoba's Karlee Gendron as the top overall
female skater in her category.
"That's amazing," Christ said after the championships ended
Sunday at the Mount Pleasant Speed Skating Oval. "It's great to be right at
the top of my group in my home town and at nationals. I get to tell my
friends that I did great."
The purple heart has helped. Christ tore her suit during a
short-track meet in the fall. A mother of a speed skater volunteered to
repair the tear and Christ wanted something that would stand out. It was
suggested that she add a purple heart.
"The first meet I skated with the purple heart didn't go
very well," said Christ, who is in her eighth year of speed skating. "The
weather was really bad (on a drive to Calgary) and it was really stressful.
Other than that, I've skated really well with it."
Christ decided to design the logo while heading to a meet in
Moose Jaw. The logo featured a crown, which represented the Queen City, a
maple leaf for the Canadian championships and a silhouette of Saskatoon's
Catriona Le May Doan.
Christ also felt that she had a good chance of representing
Saskatchewan at the championships because there weren't a lot of skaters
from the province in her age group. Each province was allowed to send four
skaters in each category.
"There was a little bit of pressure," said Christ. "Home ice
really helped, too. I was pretty excited to take part and I was inspired to
do well on my home turf." Christ wasn't the only member of the Regina Speed
Skating Club to perform on the weekend. The Regina club swept the top three
overall spots in the senior male division. Mark Beitel was first followed by
Michal Wilfong and Brad Clifford. Axel Morin of Saskatoon was first overall
in the intermediate male category. Moyca Stoffel of Saskatoon was the
overall winner in the senior women's division. Saskatchewan's skaters won 21
gold, 14 silver and 16 bronze medals.