The love for adrenaline and speed is what helped Kelowna乌鸦传媒檚 Mackenzie Adams made the Canadian National Skeleton team just two years into the sport.

At just 19 years old, Adams is made her debut with the national team at the North American Cup in Lake Placid, New York on Saturday, Nov. 18.

Coming from a hockey and speed skating background, Adams was approached to try the skeleton and the sport clicked with her.

乌鸦传媒淚 used to be a speed skater and I went to trails in the Kamloops area and the coach decided that he wanted me to try [skeleton] at the track,乌鸦传媒� Adams told Capital News. 乌鸦传媒淲e went to Whistler for a week-long program where they teach you the basics of how to ride the sled and it snowballed from there.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淚 started in hockey, and went to speed skating and was like 乌鸦传媒榯his is really fast, this is really cool, I like this乌鸦传媒� and then moved on to this that乌鸦传媒檚 even faster. It乌鸦传媒檚 a lot of fun hitting those hit speeds,乌鸦传媒� said Adams, who乌鸦传媒檚 reached 130 kilometres per hour during a run before.

The Kelowna native raced up the ranks as she started in the sport just two years ago when she was 17 and now is on the national team as a 19-year-old. She had to go to Whistler a lot to train and went for three weeks as part of the final test for the national team. In that time, the participants will only have two or three runs each day. After the tryouts, she went home to Kelowna and awaited the news.

乌鸦传媒淥nce we got the e-mail [I made it], it was quite exciting,乌鸦传媒� said Adams.

After making the team, Adams got ready for her first competition for Team Canada.

乌鸦传媒淚n the month before this race, I watched previous events at the track so I know what I乌鸦传媒檓 getting into,乌鸦传媒� said Adams, who added race times are track dependent but her fastest run in Whistler was 57 seconds.

On Saturday morning, in two runs, Adams finished with a combined time of 2 minutes and 4.57 seconds. Her first run was 1:02.34 while the second was 1:02.23.

Now, she乌鸦传媒檒l get to enjoy three days at home before heading to Whistler for another week of training and then to Park City, Utah for the next competition. She乌鸦传媒檒l compete in various events until the season finals back at Lake Placid in March.

Being on the national team, Adams also wants to represent her country on the world乌鸦传媒檚 highest stage one day by making it to the Olympics.

乌鸦传媒淗opefully yes, that乌鸦传媒檚 my overall goal,乌鸦传媒� said Adams. 乌鸦传媒淲hen I was five, my parents had the Olympics on watching hockey and I asked 乌鸦传媒榃hat team is that? I want to be on that team.乌鸦传媒� My mom said 乌鸦传媒榊ou want to play hockey?乌鸦传媒� 乌鸦传媒楴o, I want to be on for Team Canada.乌鸦传媒� I replied.乌鸦传媒�

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