Wren Acorn's competitive season is done and she wrapped it up with another fine showing on the national stage.
The 15-year-old competed at the Canadian Junior Selection Meet in Sherbrooke, Que., last weekend and finished in ninth place overall on the girls side, scoring a total of 7,813 points from her three races. Each race had a point total attached to it depending on a skater's overall finish.
NNSL file photo
“I felt I had a really good meet,” said Acorn. “I was calm, I felt confident and very able among that group of ladies.”
Acorn's best result came in the 1,500-metre event, where she finished fifth and earned 4,096 points.
She said she felt underestimated by some of her opponents and that helped her to surprise some of them.
“I came in ranked 29th so some of them didn't feel too threatened or concerned because I didn't go through the national qualifier,” she said. “I was in control of all my races leading up to the final and I made the advancements I needed to.”
In the A final, though, bad luck caught up to her. Acorn ended up clicking blades with Sylvia Kolodziejczyk of Ontario two laps into the race and ended up falling, meaning she spent the rest of the race playing catch-up.
“I also managed to dodge another fall in front of me near the end,” she said. “It was a scrappy race.”
The 500-metre race was one which Acorn had targeted for improvement from the Canada Winter Games last month.
“I needed to improve on my starts because I was getting off the line slower than everyone else,” she said. “I worked on it in practice before the meet and it was working.”
Her first two races in the 500-metre went about as well as they could have or, as Acorn put it, she knocked it out of the park.
Everything was going well until the third race.
“I had an amazing start and then the refs blew the whistle,” she said. “There was a piece of blade on the ice and I looked down and it was mine.”
Acorn switched out the damaged blade with one of her back-ups but she wasn't able to get the acceleration she wanted down the stretch.
“I had a good start in the semifinal race but I wasn't able to keep it going,” she said.
She ended up in the D final, which she won, earning her 1,567 points.
The 1,000-metre event is Acorn's bread and butter race and things were going well right up to the semifinal.
“I needed to be top-two to advance to the final and I was third when I tried to pass a girl on the outside with one lap to go” she said. “I built it up to that point but I fell. I have no idea how and I couldn't tell you what happened. Passing on the outside isn't fraught with danger like going on the inside. I don't know what happened.”
She raced in the B final, where she was fifth, giving her 2,150 points.
“I'm thrilled with how I did,” said Acorn. “I've seen such incredible growth this season physically, mentally and tactically. Last season, I was just the 14-year-old out learning and having some fun but this season, I feel like I've learned how to race and how to be competitive.”