Fourteen skaters from the Smithers Figure Skating Club (SFSC) took the ice at the Cariboo North Central Region Skating Championships in Prince George on Jan. 19-21.
The competition saw over 250 skaters from Dawson Creek to Prince Rupert. The Skate Canada sanctioned event had judges flown in from across the province. All the Smithers figures skaters competed in at least four events over the weekend ranging from freeskate programs, interpretives, creative, quad threat, and elements.
The weekend highlight was the Smithers podium sweep in the Star 4 13 & over elements event where Emily Holland, Ashley McGuinness and Tristen Morgan placed first, second and third respectively.
“It was really remarkable to have all 3 skaters take the podium on this event,” said freelance coach Stephanie Auston.
“The athletes all performed really well. We achieved some personal bests and overall had a great weekend. The quality of the skaters’ performances far exceeded my expectations and I thought the Smithers Figure Skating Club was really well represented.”
Adison Labonte received a silver medal in the Star 4 U10 event. This was her first time competing at this level and she delivered a solid performance.
In Star 4 13 & over, Emily Holland brought home a bronze while close behind was Ashley McGuinness in fourth, Tristen Morgan sixth and Petra Martens in seventh place. Catherine DeGisi had a nice clean skate in the competitive stream of the pre-juvenile event and received a bronze. Degisi also placed fifth in Star 6 elements.
In Star 1-3 category, Star 4 quad threat and the pre-intro and introductory interpretive events, skaters receive ribbons of either a gold, silver, bronze or merit based on their skating skills and judges award these results.
“For many of our Star 2 skaters, this was their first regional competition at this level. I am very proud of every one; they all performed beautifully and came away with a numerous gold and silver results,” commented SFSC Club coach Deb Portman.
SFSC Ribbon Highlights:
Star 2 solo: Sam Love, Taya Kasum, Miley Harris: silver. Sarah Lo, Kolbie Doodson, Millie Huxtable & Kaylee Stevens: bronze
Star 3 solo & elements: Mira Huxtable: bronze
Star 4 quad threat: Adison Labonte: gold, Tristen Morgan: silver. Ashley McGuinness & Petra Martens: bronze.
Pre intro interpretive: Taya Kasum: gold. Sam Love & Kolbie Doodson: silver. Millie Huxtable, Sarah Lo, Miley Harris: bronze.
Introductory Interpretive:, Adison Labonte, Mira Huxtable, Catherine DeGisi: silver, Petra Martens: bronze.
Duet couples intro interpretive: Adison Labonte & Catherine DeGisi: silver
Creative improv 1: Sam Love, Taya Kasum & Sarah Lo: gold
“We are a young vibrant club and we’re seeing excellent growth in our up and coming skaters. The success of all of our skaters at regionals is attributed to our new off-ice training program provided by Lunas Fitness that offers flexibility and core strength, along with dedicated ice times, seminars, skaters showcase and simulations to help our skaters prepare for competitions,” said SFSC president Carrie Collingwood.
Smithers skaters also received coaching and support from club coach Courtney Malkow and on-ice choreography and dance from Janet Harris. Smithers skaters are now preparing for a Jamboree competition in Kitimat Feb. 23-25. Our next event in Smithers will be a Skaters Gala on March 16 at the Civic Center. We welcome the community to come out and support our skaters and club.
– Submitted article
