(Aug. 17, 2005)
OTTAWA, ON: A total of 27 junior and novice-level Canadian skaters will compete in the 2005 North American Challenge Skate (NACS) event, in Pierrefonds, Que., from Aug. 18 - 21. The athletes will compete in the Junior Men, Junior Ice Dance, Novice Ladies and Novice Ice Dance events.
The NACS event in Pierrefonds is the first of two NACS events this season. The second event will be held in Kansas City, Kansas, from Aug. 25 - 28. The NACS series is a development event that was established by Skate Canada and U.S. Figure Skating in 1997. This year’s competition will feature junior and novice-level skaters from Canada and the U.S. This will be the first year the new ISU judging system will be used at the NACS events.
Representing Canada in the Junior Men’s event is Labrador City, NL, native Joey Russell. The 17-year-old Russell is the fourth-ranked junior man in Canada. He competed in the Novice Men’s event at the 2004 NACS event in San Jose, California, where he won the bronze medal. He also won the gold medal in the Junior Men’s event at the 2005 Mladost Trophy. Lee Barkell coaches Russell at the Mariposa School of Skating in Barrie, Ont.
Competing in his first international event is Ehren Jaleel. Jaleel, 17, of Edmonton, is the 2005 Canadian Novice Men’s Champion. Lise-Lotte Kinding coaches Jaleel out of the Royal Glenora Club in Edmonton.
Also representing Canada is 16-year-old Jeremy Ten. Ten, of Vancouver, is the 2005 Canadian Novice Men’s silver medallist. He has previous international experience, capturing the gold medal in the Novice Men’s event at the 2004 NACS event in San Jose. He also won the silver medal in the Novice Men’s event at the 2004 Triglav Trophy. Joanne McLeod, Bruno Marcotte and Jill Marie Harvey coach Ten at the BC Centre of Excellence in Burnaby, B.C.
Rounding out the Junior Men’s entries and making his international debut is Ian Martinez. Martinez, 16, of St-Leonard, Que., is the 2005 Canadian Novice Men’s bronze medallist. Eric Therrien coaches Martinez.
Representing Canada in the Junior Ice Dance event are Maggy Pellerin and Dominique Dupuis. Pellerin, 17, of St-Charles Borromée, Que., and Dupuis, 19, of Montreal, placed sixth in the Junior Ice Dance event at the 2005 BMO Financial Group Canadian Championships. They have previous international experience, placing ninth at the 2004 International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix event in Harbin, China, and sixth in the Junior Ice Dance event at the 2004 NACS event in San Jose. Bruno Yvars, Martine Patenaude and Aimé Leblanc coach the duo.
Also competing in the Junior Ice Dance event are Andrea Chong and Spencer Barnes. Chong, a 17-year-old Toronto native, and Barnes, 19, of Pickering, Ont., are ranked seventh in the Junior Ice Dance event in Canada. They competed internationally last season, placing 11th at the 2004 ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Budapest, Hungary, and fourth in the Junior Ice Dance event at the 2004 NACS event in San Jose. Carol Lane and Juris Razgulajevs coach Chong and Barnes out of the Scarboro Figure Skating Club.
Competing in their first international competition are Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier. Crone, 14, of Aurora, Ont., and Poirier, 13, of Toronto, are the 2005 Canadian Novice Ice Dance Champions. Carol Lane and Juris Razgulajevs coach the duo at the Scarboro Figure Skating Club.
Also representing Canada in the Junior Ice Dance event is the team of Joanna Lenko and Mitchell Islam. Lenko, 13, and Islam, 15, both of Barrie, Ont., are the 2005 Canadian Novice Ice Dance silver medallists. They competed at the 2004 NACS event in San Jose, where they placed seventh in the Novice Ice Dance event. David Islam, Kelly Johnson and Pavol Porac coach Lenko and Islam out of the Mariposa School of Skating.
Representing Canada in the Novice Ladies event and making her international debut is Barrie, Ont. native Katherine de Repentigny. De Repentigny, 14, finished 13th in the Novice Women’s event at the 2005 BMO Financial Group Skate Canada Junior Nationals. Michelle Leigh coaches de Repentigny at the Mariposa School of Skating.
Also competing in her first international event is the Canadian Pre-Novice Women’s Champion, 13-year-old Karel Di Bartolo. Di Bartolo, of St-Hubert, Que., was the Canadian Juvenile Women’s Champion in 2004. Lynn McKay coaches Di Bartolo out of the Club de Patinage Artistique St-Hubert.
Also representing Canada in the Novice Ladies event is Megan Ure. Ure, 13, of Edmonton, is the 2005 Canadian Pre-Novice Women’s silver medallist. This is Ure’s first international assignment. Cynthia Ullmark coaches Ure at the Royal Glenora Club.
Making their international debut are 14-year-old Cecylia Witkowski, of Delta, B.C., and 15-year-old Vanessa Juteau, of Laval, Que. Bruno Delmaestro and Kelly-Lynn Champagne coach Witkowski at the Connaught Skating Club, while Manon Perron coaches Juteau.
In the Novice Ice Dance event, Brooklyn Vienneau, 12, and Jonathan Cluett, 15, both of Tillsonburg, Ont., will compete. They are ranked eighth in Novice Ice Dance in Canada. At the 2004 NACS event in San Jose, they finished 11th in the Novice Ice Dance event. Susan Plewes and Dean Phillips coach the duo at the Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club.
Competing in their first international event are Christina Gignac and Eric Saucke-Lacelle. Gignac, 14, of Pierrefonds, Que., and Saucke-Lacelle, 16, of Rock Forest, Que., are the 2005 Canadian Pre-Novice Ice Dance Champions. Shawn Winter and Sylvia Nguyen coach Gignac and Saucke-Lacelle out of the Sportplexe 4 Glaces in Pierrefonds.
Maja Vermeulen, 15, of Acton, Ont., and Andrew Doleman, 15, of Dundas, Ont., are the 2005 Pre-Novice Ice Dance silver medallists. This will be the duo’s first international assignment. Bernard Ford and Gina Doleman coach Vermeulen and Doleman.
Also making their international debut are Alexandra Nadeau and Charles-Edouard Bouthillette. Nadeau, 14, and Bouthillette, 15, both of Montreal, are the 2005 Pre-Novice Ice Dance bronze medallists. Bruno Yvars and Aimé Leblanc coach Nadeau and Bouthillette out of the Boucherville Centre Elite.
Rounding out the entries in the Novice Ice Dance event are Kim Poudrier, 14, of Gatineau, Que., and Jonathan Arcieri, 15, of St-Leonard, Que., who are ranked fourth in Pre-Novice Ice Dance in Canada. This will be the duo’s first international competition. Aimé Leblanc coaches Poudrier and Arcieri.
Karen Butcher, of Nepean, Ont., Denise Laplante, of Gatineau, Que., Toronto’s Ron Conacher, Jacquie Wickett, of Ottawa, Nicole Roch, of Boucherville, Que., Bobcaygeon, Ont.’s Gordon Markham, Isabelle Gaudreault, of Gatineau, Que., Calgary’s Rob Davison, and Sophie Dore, of Ste-Catherine, Que., will be the Canadian officials at the event. Micheline Renaud, of Gatineau, Que., will act as the team leader. Louis Stong, Skate Canada Skating Development Director, will be the assistant team leader. The contact number during the event is 514-697-7110. Results will be posted on Skate Canada’s official website at www.skatecanada.ca <http://www.skatecanada.ca> as soon as they become available.