Four girls from the South Cariboo made their way up to the podium at the Cariboo North Central Region Skate (CNCR) Championships in Quesnel on Jan. 18 to 20.
“We are proud of the girls and their achievements this season so far,” said Danyelle Howard, president of the 100 Mile Figure Skating Club.
Tayler Kelsey and Ashley Funke both received gold medals for STAR 1 Elements and Creative.
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Elements are program components in figure skating indicating where a skater is in terms of jumps, spins, spirals, footwork, etc. The highest is 10, whereas STAR 1 is basic.
Skaters are assigned a score (merit, bronze, silver and gold) for each element and overall presentation. Soukoreff, a coach at the club, said the average score becomes the overall final score for the event and the competitions are more about improving a skater’s results, opposed to a comparison to other athletes in the same event.
“Each one has different jumps and spins they have to do in order to pass on to the next level,” explained Danyelle Howard’s mother LaVerne Howard, a coach with the club working with Kelsey, Funke and Shearer.
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Vanessa Shearer received a silver in her group for STAR 2 Solo and a Bronze in STAR 3 Elements. Another girl was also awarded a silver for her respective performance in STAR 2 Solo and gold medals were given for that event.
“We were proud of her when she received bronze for her STAR 3 Elements because she’s only been practising them for about two weeks prior to the event,” said the president.
She also added the judges must have been very tough only to give out two silvers and no gold.
Alysha Buchi was given a bronze for her STAR 2 Quad Threat.
“Alysha’s first competition of the season went well. She skated her minute long program with confidence and a desire to do her best,” said Soukoreff, Alysha’s coach.
“After some time off, it’s great to see Alysha return to the ice. She has made good progress this season, especially on her free skate elements! She shows determination and dedication on a daily basis.”
The STAR 2 Quad Threat required Buchi to do a salchow jump, backspin and a choreographed spiral/shoot in the duck sequence.