The ice at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex sure took a beating earlier this month.

For a typical Sudbury Sprinters speed skating practice on Tuesday or Saturday at the south-end facility, one might find 20 to 30 skaters, max, digging their elongated blades into the freshly flooded surface of Countryside #1.

On March 8th & 9th, however, that number grew seven-fold or more as athletes from right across Ontario gathered for the 2025 Provincial Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Sudbury.

They came in all ages and sizes - and from all sorts of different backgrounds, though few as unique as 12 year-old Jannah Isabella Mejia from Ottawa. Well, from Ottawa for the past three years or so - but prior to that, home was the South America nation of Columbia.

"I did in-line speed skating - it's different," said the proud member of the Pacers Speed Skating Club and one of 46 young skaters who represented Team Ontario last weekend at the Canadian Youth Short Track Championships in Dieppe, New Brunswick.

"The boots are similar, but in the corners, you lean a lot more on ice," Mejia continued, joined out east by the Sudbury trio of Audrey Simard, Simone Thompson and Mercia Thompson.

"When I first started on ice, I would push back on my crossovers instead of to the side."

Her challenges, however, were not limited to simply technical adjustments. The very concept of skating on ice is understandably foreign to someone whose native country is transected by the equator.

"I was a little bit scared just because the ice was slippery and with the crossovers, I was worried about falling and crashing into the boards," said Mejia. "But then I said I don't care if I fall, I am just going to try it."

"That's how you get better."

A one-time figure skater, Alex Toth (London Lightning) also travelled to Dieppe, a testament to his continued progress. A native of Embro (ON), the 12 year-old was coming off an outstanding race in his 1500m in Sudbury, though it was touch and go with 12 laps in the books.

"With three laps to go, I was dead," said Toth, sitting in fifth place at the time. "I couldn't move too much but we were still going pretty fast. Then I just got a random boost of adrenaline and passed four people outside on one lap and finished the race in first."

"It was exciting."

For as much as Toth enjoyed at least a level of comfort in being on ice as he attended his first speed skating workout not long after the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang that served as a motivator, it quickly became clear that figure skating was not an identical feel to his new passion.

"For me, it was not as big a transition as other kids as I had already been on skates," said Toth. "I was falling, a little, but I could still skate around. But the blades for figure skates are much thicker. We do use the same edges, but we use them in a different way."

Making his second trip to Sudbury - Toth had been part of a provincial delegation that attended a long-track weekend of training at Queen's Athletic Field earlier this winter - the youngster was still developing a feel for the ice surface at Countryside.

"Some ice is faster than others," he explained. "Some ice is harder or softer and your blades cut through easier. I like it in the middle. I like my blades to cut through, but I still get some grip."

Some very impressive results were posted by a number of out of town skaters, youngsters such as Maria Lysenok (Kitchener-Waterloo), Leon Guo (Toronto), Charlotte Kim (Newmarket) and Connor Siu (Oakville).

That said, the Sprinters also took advantage of their moment to shine as Jordan Tingle (Masters - 30-35) and Curtis Ciulini (Junior A Men - 17-18) both claimed gold while Henry Walker (Boys - 14) added a bronze medal to the Sudbury haul.

Locals recording personal best times included Paul Masters (59.40), Brody Toering (48.63) and Simoné Thompson (46.61) in the 400m and Henry Walker (56.66), Jordan Tingle (48.97) and Curtis Ciulini (51.54) in the 500m event.

Recent Sudbury club success also included the Thompson sisters who attended the Canadian Youth Long Track Speed Skating Championships in Fort St-John (B.C.) last month.

Simoné returned home with both a silver (300m Mass Start) and bronze (500m Olympic Style) medal while Mercia garnered valuable experience, finishing in the top half of the Girls U12 bracket as both of the siblings participated in their first national championship.