Strong results for Canadian skaters at weekend competitions
(March 17, 2003)
It was a successful weekend for Canadian skaters.
Canada had a number of skaters competing in two different events this weekend - the 2003 World Junior Challenge Cup in Kungsbacka, Sweden, and the 2003 Mladost Trophy in Zagreb, Croatia - and Canadian skaters came away with a total of three medals.
Two Canadian junior synchronized skating teams competed at the World Junior Challenge Cup, and both teams won medals at the event. Burlington Ice Image, who placed second in the junior team event at the 2003 BMO Financial Group Skate Canada Synchronized Nationals, captured the silver medal with two strong skates. Winning the bronze medal was Les Suprêmes, who also took home the bronze medal in the junior team event at the 2003 BMO Financial Group Skate Canada Synchronized Nationals.
Burlington Ice Image placed second in both the short program and free skate portions of the event. In the free skate, the judges rewarded the team for its efforts with marks ranging from 4.9 to 5.3 for technical merit and from 5.1 to 5.4 for presentation.
Les Suprêmes was also awarded a set of impressive marks in the free skate. The team's marks ranged from 5.0 to 5.3 for technical merit and from 5.1 to 5.5 for presentation. Les Suprêmes finished third in both the short program and the free skate to take third-place overall.
The Finnish team, the Musketeers, was the judges' unanimous choice for first-place throughout the competition. The Musketeers earned marks up to 5.5 for technical merit and as high as 5.7 for presentation.
Youth Impressive
There were also some encouraging results from the Mladost Trophy, a developmental event, this weekend as well.
Canada's best finish came in the Junior Men's event, where Tyler Cochrane won the bronze medal. Cochrane, who finished fifth in the junior Men's event at the 2003 BMO Financial Group Canadian Championships, had a strong free skate that was highlighted by a triple Lutz, a triple flip and a triple loop.
Nobunari Oda, of Japan, won the event, while Great Britain's Robert Murray captured the silver medal.
Matt McEwan, the silver medallist in the Novice Men's event from the 2003 BMO Financial Group Skate Canada Junior Nationals, finished just off the podium in fourth-place in the Novice Men's event. McEwan was fourth in the short program, but placed third in the free skate to finish in fourth-place overall.
Japan's Takahito Mura, who came from third after the short program to place first in the free skate, won the Novice Men's event. Elliot Hilton of Great Britain captured the silver medal, and his teammate, Matthew Parr, took home the bronze medal.
Like McEwan, Canada's Erin Scherrer finished just off the podium in fourth-place in the Novice Ladies event. Scherrer had a very impressive short program that put her in second-place, but she finished fourth in the free skate to place fourth overall.
Scherrer's teammate, Amelie Lacoste, who was in third-place after the short program, finished seventh in the free skate to place seventh overall.
Winning the event was Japan's Rumi Suizu. Her teammate, Momo Makino, made a huge leap in the standings from seventh after the short program to first in the free skate, which propelled her to the silver medal. The bronze medal went to Karla Quinn of Great Britain.