Greased lightning

Local athletes excel in the growing sport of speed skating

By John Denny

The Clackamas Review, Jul 8, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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“I like going fast,” he said. “It’s just really, really fun.”

Dante says some of his friends at school have seen him skate fast and they are pretty impressed.

“They think it’s pretty cool,” he said. “Some of them have actually come and watched and they’re like ‘Wow!’”

“If he wants to keep at it and doesn’t get burned out, Dante can be really good,” Derek said. “He’s the most determined and dedicated of my three sons. He’s turned a lot of heads with how fast he’s developed. He’s got a lot of speed; he just lacks endurance. But that will come.”

This is only Dante’s second season of competitive speed skating and he says he’s looking forward to nationals.

“I’ve seen some of [the kids I’ll skate against at nationals] skate and they’re pretty good. I’ll just do my best.

“My dad tells us if we train hard and do our best we’ll just get better and better, and someday maybe we’ll make it to nationals and win it.”

Derek Meade has another young skater from the local area that he says has potential in Charlie Lowther. The 10-year-old Oregon City youth placed third in the juvenile girls division at this year’s regionals.

“I was shocked when I first saw her,” Derek said. “She’s got decent form and technique, and she’s really determined. The skies the limit for her, but she’s got to come more than once a week [in order to reach her potential].”

Meade noted that while his speed club meets four days a week to practice, Lowther attends only the Saturday evening sessions.

Meade is also high on his oldest competitive speed skater, Michael Layton of Milwaukie.

At 57, Layton is in only his third season of competitive speed skating.

“He’s basically a beginner and he was sixth in the nation in his age division last year,” Meade said. “He is the most dedicated skater here. He does not miss a practice.”

Layton, who last season was named his club’s age 13-and-over “Skater of the Year,” placed second at this year’s regionals in the Esquire Men’s Division, which includes races of 500, 700 and 1,000 meters. He was also a part of the second-place four-man men’s relay team.

It was just seven years ago that Layton purchased a pair of inlines and took up recreational skating.

He explains how he got hooked on speed skating:

“I came down here on a Sunday and one of the floor guards introduced me to speed. He told me about the Friday night speed class. I came down here and saw what they were doing and it hit me. I said, ‘That’s for me.’ I haven’t missed a practice since.”

Layton explained the allure: “I enjoy the feel of skating. I enjoy the experience; I enjoy the people. And it’s a family sport where everyone in the family can participate. You walk into a meet and parents are there, participating with the kids.”

Layton’s sons Jonathan, 10, and Brandon, 14, both skate competitively.

His wife Marti and son Mitchell, 7, join in during recreational sessions.

Derek Meade expects to be back up to full speed by this October, when training begins for the next competitive season.

He’ll be teaching an introductory beginners speed skating class at 5 p.m. on Saturdays and would like nothing better than to see the rink filled with enthusiastic young people.

“[The Saturday classes] are a great way to get started, because you’re not intimidated by the more advanced skaters,” said Kolibaba. “It’s a great way to get introduced to the fundamentals, which is what you need if you are going to go anywhere in the sport.”

Inquiries about the class or about the speedskating club should be directed to Derek Meade at: derekmeade@msn.com.

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