Adeline Maunder was a double medallist for the second time at the Canada Games as a two-sport athlete.
The Paul Kane High School graduate was awarded two bronze medals in long-track speed skating at the winter games in Prince George after earning a pair of silvers as a triathlete at the 2013 summer games in Sherbrooke, Que.
“I love the two sports and I can’t get enough of them. I’m passionate about it,” Maunder said. “If I could do both sports at the same time I definitely would but I can’t. I’m good at both of them and I'm going to keep going as long as I can with the two sports because they kind of work hand in hand.”
Maunder, 19, finished third in the 1,500 and 3,000 metres in speed skating after placing second in the mixed (two males and two females) and female (three racers) team relays with Team Alberta in her Canada Games debut.
“The two silvers at the Canada Summer Games in the triathlon means more because of the fight I had to put up to get on the team. It was much harder and my competitors were a lot harder to beat so being able to actually make it on to the team was an amazing feeling and having the chance to represent Alberta and having a chance to get a medal at Canada Games was just exceptional. It felt like the greatest thing in the world,” she said.
“In speed skating I was very happy winning my two bronze medals although a lot of the girls were gone to junior worlds and the next people were going to the Canada Games so it was just a little less meaningful because not everyone was there.”
Maunder attended the closing ceremonies in Sherbrooke and the opening ceremonies in Prince George but was undecided which Canada Games was the best.
“They were both pretty amazing experiences and everyone did an awesome job with the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games in helping to make sure the athletes feel they’re important and truly something special,” said the nursing student at Bow Valley College in Calgary
At the winter games Maunder competed in multiple events and achieved five top-10 placings, highlighted by the two bronze medals.
“I was pretty happy with it,” she said. “I’m very good at long distances and the 3,000 is more of a stronger distance so I was kind of expecting a medal whereas the 1,500 it was kind of, maybe I will get one, maybe I wouldn’t type of thing.”
Her times were 2:20.80 in the 1,500m at Prince George and 4:38.90 in the 3,000m at Fort St. John, B.C. The long track competition was moved to Fort St. John after they lost the ice in Prince George.
Her personal best times of 2:08.12 in the 1,500m (October of 2014) and 4:30.23 in the 3,000m (November of 2013) were set in Calgary.
“The fastest ice is in Calgary,” said the second-year skater with the Olympic Oval program.
Last year Maunder competed at the U19 ISU Junior World Cup Regional long track championships in Calgary and was clocked 2:11.26 in the 1,500m and 4:31.56 in the 3,000m.
“The best part of it was to experience what the field was. I was competing against other juniors from other countries.”
After the last meet of the season later this month in Calgary, Maunder will attend a week-long training camp in Arizona consisting of triathletes from Alberta and Ontario to prepare for the upcoming summer circuit.
Alternating between speed skating in the winter and triathlons in the summer keeps Maudner refreshed and refocused.
“It’s a break in itself but it’s not really a break from any athletic events,” she said. “You get excited for it again. You don’t get bored of the sport, which is nice.”
Maunder is coming off a broken collarbone in her last year of junior, which affected her status as an elite competitor this season.
“You have to finish at least top five in order to be able to go into the elite division and compete at a national level so my goal this year is proving that I’m good enough to be an elite and then hopefully the year after that I will be able to compete at an elite level,” said Maunder, who has competed internationally as a junior triathlete.
Canada Winter Games info box
Canada Winter Games<br />Results of St. Albert and area athletes<br />Abby Benning, female hockey<br />Edge School defenceman<br />Bronze (Team Alberta 5-1)<br />Alexandra Gagnon, judo<br />Silver: team event<br />7th place: minus-57 kilograms<br />Kate Henderson, ringette<br />St. Albert Mission U19AA belle<br />5th place (Team Alberta 6-1)<br />Lauren Henderson, ringette<br />St. Albert Mission U19AA belle<br />5th place (Team Alberta 6-1)<br />Ty Lindeman, badminton<br />Silver: team event<br />Bronze: mixed doubles with Takeisha Wang (Edmonton)<br />4th place: men’s doubles with Austin Bauer (Calgary)<br />Adeline Maunder, speed skating<br />Long track <br />Bronze: women’s 3,000 metres<br />Bronze: women’s 1,500 metres<br />6th place: women’s team pursuit <br />6th place: women’s 1,000 metres<br />7th place: women’s mass start<br />13th place: women’s 500 metres<br />Ian Mitchell, hockey<br />St. Albert Raiders defenceman<br />Silver: (Team Alberta 5-1)<br />Ryan Peckford, hockey<br />St. Albert Raiders centre<br />Silver: (Team Alberta 5-1)<br />Janelle Wilk, ringette<br />Edmonton Elite U19AA belle<br />5th place (Team Alberta 6-1)<br />Arinn Young, wheelchair basketball<br />Bronze (Team Alberta 3-2)
