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Mikayla Kramer finishes top five at Skate Canada BC/YK Sectional Championships

“I love when there is so much energy in the crowd and I really felt that in this competition”
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Mikayla Kramer, pictured at the Arctic Edge Skating Club’s 2017 Ice Show, finished fifth at the 2020 Skate Canada BC/YK Sectional Championships.. (Tom Patrick/Yukon News file)

Whitehorse’s Mikayla Kramer earned a fifth place finish at the 2020 Skate Canada BC/YK Sectional Championships in Kelowna, B.C., on Nov. 7 to 10.

Competing in the junior women category, Kramer finished with a score of 43.15 in her short program and a 67.19 in her free program. Her scores ranked her fifth in each program as well as fifth overall.

“The first routine, the short program, went really well and it was close to my personal best — I think it was 0.2 different — so it was a very good skate,” said Kramer. “Then my long program wasn’t as good — that’s where I didn’t score as well as at (the 2019 Autumn Leaves Super Series). I missed two important jump passes, but looking back now it’s OK. It wasn’t as good as my training, so I know I can do better.”

Thanks to her top-six finish and her technical elements score in her free program, Kramer will compete at the 2020 Skate Canada Challenge in Edmonton from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1 for a spot at the 2020 National Skating Championships in January.

In order to qualify for the nationals, Kramer will need to be in the top 18 at the Challenge.

Kramer lives and trains in Kelowna, and said it was interesting to compete at her home rink.

“The rink I train at was where we competed and that was really interesting because that never really happens,” said Kramer. “We’re always travelling for competitions and I really enjoyed that because it was at home. I could just sleep in my own bed.”

The energy and support of the crowd also made for an exciting atmosphere.

“I love when there is so much energy in the crowd and I really felt that in this competition,” said Kramer. “There was a lot of cheering from the skaters and parents, and also my friends from school and outside of skating could come and watch too, which was really nice to have their support as well as my family’s support.”

Now, Kramer said she’s focused on building her confidence in her programs before the next competition.

“Hopefully I’ll keep getting more confident and more consistent with my run-throughs so that when I get to Challenge, I know I can do it,” said Kramer. “I felt like at this competition I did feel very confident going into it, but then I guess I just didn’t trust everything once I got onto the ice to perform my free program.”

That will come down to a combination of practise and mental preparation.

“Definitely the repetitions is one thing, but also keeping my mental game very strong,” said Kramer. “Keep having that confidence in my mind. Saying, ‘I can do this. I can do this in my sleep, basically.’ Just keeping that really strong is important for the next two weeks.”

Contact John Hopkins-Hill at john.hopkinshill@yukon-news.com