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Two top-10 performances for Canada in women’s singles at ISU Junior Grand Prix

(September 19, 2008 - OSTRAVA, Czech Republic) – Alexandra Najarro of Richmond Hill, Ont., and McKenzie Crawford of Glencoe, Ont., finished seventh and 10th respectively in women’s singles on Friday at the fourth stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

Both Canadians were making their international debuts.

Yukiko Fujisawa of Japan won the gold medal with 148.25 points, Angela Maxwell of the U.S., was second at 136.59 and Stefania Berton of Italy, the leader after the short program, was third at 134.90.

Najarro, 15, is the reigning Canadian novice champion.

‘’I didn’t get to nervous about the competition,’’ said Najarro.  ‘’This was all about experience for me and I just wanted to go out there and skate my best.  I was pleased with the quality of my jumps and the fact that the crowd seemed to enjoy my performance.  My spins and footwork however need more work.’’

Crawford, 16, made an impressive comeback in the long program.  She was 13th after Thursday’s short program and produced the 10th best long program to move into 10th overall out of 34 entries.

‘’There were a few mistakes in my long program but overall it was pretty good,’’ said Crawford.  ‘’The highlight for me was landing my first triple loop.  It’s my first year with it and I’m getting more and more comfortable.  My nerves didn’t affect me as much today.  It’s pretty big jump for me.’’

In ice dancing, Karen Routhier of Vanier, Que., and Eric Saucke-Lacelle of Sherbrooke, Que., climbed to second from fourth after posting the third best original dance of the day.  They stand at 79.22 just behind leaders Piper Gilles and Zachary Donohue of the U.S., at 82.27.  Lucie Mysliveckova and Matej Novak of the Czech Republic are third at 79.10.

Novice national champions Olivia Martins and Alvin Chau, both of Toronto, are sixth out of 17.

In pairs, Russian couples stands 1-2-3 after the short program with Lubov Iliushechkina and Nodari Maisuradze leading the field.

Amanda Velenosi of Laval, Que., and Mark Fernandez of Montreal stand seventh, Christi Anne Steele and Adam Johnson, both of Chatham, Ont., are eighth and Zoey Brown of Cambridge, Ont., and Ian Beharry of Guelph, Ont., are ninth out of 17 entries.

In Thursday’s men’s singles short program, Andrew Lum of Burnaby was 11th and Andrei Rogozine of Richmond Hill, Ont., 15th.

The finals for men’s singles, ice dancing and pairs are all on Saturday.

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Skate Canada, the national governing body responsible for the development and administration of figure skating in Canada, is the largest figure skating association in the world. With skating programs for athletes of all ages, offered at 1326 clubs across the country, Skate Canada is an association dedicated to providing every Canadian the opportunity to experience the passion, spirit and triumph of skating.