Jason Parker's (Team Saskatchewan) across-the-board records set at 1995 Canada Games in Grand Prairie haven't been touched, until now.

Despite challenging cold and windy conditions, Team Ontario's Patrick Marsh lowered Parker's benchmark in the 500 meter sprint by an eighth of a second, to 39.98 seconds. Surprisingly, the outstanding dash didn't earn Marsh the gold medal. That honour went to his teammate Richard MacLennan, whose combined time for the two 500 meter finals was 81.08 seconds.

MacLennan's victory was a surprise to everyone ... including himself! The gold medal was a complete shock, he says. "I'm really happy and excited. It was so cool to win."

A 15-year-old Grade 10 student, MacLennan is unable to train full-time like Marsh and some of the other, older long track Juniors in Calgary, home of the Oval facility used for the Calgary Olympics. He  hopes to make the move to Calgary for his last year of high school. In the meantime, he is thrilled that his improved performance at the Whitehorse games will rank him among faster and more challenging skaters.