Kristina Groves during her run at the long track speed skating in the Richmond Olympic Oval. Groves won SilverCharla Jones/The Globe and Mail
Long-track speedskaters Kristina Groves of Ottawa and Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., stole the show in their 1000-metre races at Canada's fall World Cup trials Thursday.
Groves, a double medalist at the Vancouver Olympics, won the women's 1000 metres in a time of one minute 16.05 seconds. Winnipeg's Britanny Schussler was second in 1:16.38, while Shannon Rempel, also of Winnipeg, finished third in 1:17.14.
In the men's 1000, Morrison raced in a time of 1:08.46, ahead of Edmonton's Jamie Gregg (1:08.66) and Philippe Riopel (1:09.13) of Lachenaie, Que.
Five male and five female skaters are eligible to skate the 1000 metre distance at World Cup events that start next month, but only three spots remain on the women's team, as Groves and Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., have already qualified.
Nesbitt won gold in the women's 1000 metres at the Vancouver Games.
The 1,500-metre events go Friday.