Three members of the Arctic Edge Skating Club have finished the season by stepping off the ice and onto the podium.
Whitehorse’s Sarah Milton, Lenneah Timmermans and Jamie Nickel won hardware at the 2017 Super Series Vancouver Island Skate in Parksville, B.C., April 7-9.
Milton won silver and Timmermans bronze in the STAR 5 13-and-over, and Nickel took silver in pre-juvenile ladies, at the event that marks the end of the season for most Arctic Edge skaters.
“They had speed and they were emotionally into their program and portrayed the music very well,” said Arctic Edge coach Trish Pettitt. “They all had personal best scores. Jamie’s was quite a bit higher than her last one…. It was the first time she fully rotated her double jumps and that was a bonus.”
“It was nice to see we can go to a larger competition in B.C. and have some success, that we have skaters in the range of other great skaters in B.C.,” said Arctic Edge co-chair Stacey Hays.
Nickel also claimed seventh in the silver interpretive competition and Milton ninth in bronze interpretive.
Teammate Bronwyn Hays skated to sixth in pre-juvenile ladies and eighth in silver interpretive.
Anika Kramer, also from the Whitehorse club, performed her first axel in competition on her way to eighth place in STAR 4 under-13.
Arctic Edge’s Chloe Van Lankveld placed 11th in the same division.
Alissa Russell took in a seventh place finish in gold interpretive.
“She hasn’t skated for the last couple months, so for her to perform and do the best she can was truly a wonderful thing,” said Pettitt. “She had a beautiful skate.”
Arctic Edge was also represented by five members in unranked events in which skaters are assessed to a standard, meaning skaters are awarded medals based on individual performances and are not ranked against each other. In other words, multiple skaters can win the same medal.
Kiona Vallier was awarded gold in both STAR 2 and pre-introductory interpretive.
Heidi Vallier took gold in STAR 1 and silver in pre-introductory interpretive.
Myla Turner pocketed silver in STAR 2 and introductory interpretive.
Van Lankveld and Timmermans both skated to silver in introductory interpretive.
Parksville marked the first Outside competition for Turner and the Vallier sisters.
“What was new this year is we had three skaters who had never gone to a competition outside of Whitehorse,” said Stacey Hays. “They really did very well and I’d say performed to the best of their abilities, which is remarkable because it is quite a large competition. So it was nice to see they were able to face that challenge and do well and have a good time.”
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com