Figure skaters from Whitehorse’s Arctic Edge club were in the B.C. coast region - and in the winners’ circle - recently.
Whitehorse skaters won four medals, including three gold, at the 2014 B.C. Coast Region Championships WinterSkate in Chilliwack, B.C., Feb. 7-9.
“They all skated their best,” said Arctic Edge coach Trish Pettitt. “They skated above what they normally do at a competition, and you don’t always get that.
“Being down there, getting introduced to a competition like that, gives them an idea of all the other skaters in their region - we’re in the B.C. coast region.
“It gives them an idea of where they are, where they need to go, what they excelled at and what they need to work on to meet the goals of the next competition.”
Whitehorse’s Rachel Pettitt, who was the oldest on the team at the competition at 14, had two medals up for grabs in novice women and she didn’t disappoint.
Pettitt captured gold in the short program and free skate.
Teammates Jamie Nickel and Alissa Russell won gold and silver, respectively, in pre-introductory interpretive while teammate Bronwyn Hays took fifth.
Russell then took fifth in the STAR 4 girls competition. Nickel and Hays both placed eighth in different flights of STAR 4.
Rachel Pettitt placed sixth overall in novice women at the Skate Canada’s BC/YT Sectional Championships this past November. In 2012 she became the first Yukon skater to win Skate B.C.‘s Pond to Podium Super Series and the first Yukoner to win gold at the B.C. Sectional Championships.
Up next for Arctic Edge are the Arctic Winter Games next month in Fairbanks, Alaska. Set to represent Yukon are Landyn Blisner, Tessa Moore and Meghan Birmingham in Level 1; Jenelle Clethero and Kayla Armstrong in Level 2; and Kelcy Armstrong, Mikayla Kramer and Morgan Madden in Level 3.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com