(January 28, 2008)

A total of 154 Personal Best scores were achieved at the 2008 BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships. At the closing banquet on Sunday, January 21, the HomeSense Personal Best Awards were handed out to skaters in all four disciplines of Junior and Senior competition. The awards recognize skaters who have realized the biggest improvement in their personal best scores regardless of their final placement in the competition.

In Junior Dance, Alexandra Nadeau and Charles Edouard Bouthillette scored a personal best of 57.04 in their free dance, an increase of 5.61 points; while in Senior Dance, Bethany Puttkemery and Kevin Gallagher skated an impressive free dance which earned the team a score of 74.89 which surpassed their previous best score by 14.52.

In Junior Pairs competition, Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers won a Silver medal and improved on their former best score by 8.76 for a total of 84.16 in their free program. In addition, the Senior Pairs team of Rachel Kirkland and Eric Radford exceeded their previous best score by 14.53 in their free program to capture a Personal Best Award with 106.60 points.

Junior Women’s short program winner, Rebecca Addison, scored 43.41 in the short program, a 10.73 increase, to achieve a new personal best; while, Jessica Dubé skated a strong free program in the Senior Women’s competition to improve on her previous personal best by 7.24 to 84.86.

Finally, in Junior Men’s competition, Michael Marinaro impressed the crowd by surpassing his previous personal best by 15.86 to score 83.30 in his free program. While, the new Senior Men’s Champion, Patrick Chan, won by scoring an impressive 159.26 in the free program, to improve on his former personal best by 13.40.

Click here to see pictures of the award winners.