Grenier, Deschamps take pairs title, Daleman wins handily at Skate Canada Challenge

EDMONTON – Vanessa Grenier of Johnville, Que., and Maxime Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.,  are the senior pairs champion at the 2016 Skate Canada Challenge being held through to Sunday at the the Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre.

Grenier and Deschamps earned a season-high 162.10 points for their short and long programs. Brittany Jones and Joshua Reagan of Toronto were second at 148.70 and Shalena Rau of Waterloo, Ont., and Sebastian Arcieri Montreal were third at 140.12.

“We improved our score and everything was much better,” said Deschamps, who competed at two ISU Grand Prix’s this fall. “We want to keep improving for nationals.”

Grenier says preparation will be key to success at the national championships next month.

“We have to keep being solid in training,” she said. “We have to keep working on improving our lifts and spirals so we don’t lose those little points that can often wind up costing us.”

Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont.,  took the senior women’s title convincingly with 193.62 points. Véronik Mallet of Sept-Iles, Que., was second at 152.40 and Larkyn Austman of Coquitlam, B.C., third at 148.76.

‘’I was very pleased with how it went,’’ said Daleman, a 2014 Olympian. ‘’I came here especially to get another long program under my belt and I know what I need to work on towards nationals.’’

In junior competition, winners so far are Amanda Tobin of Burlington, Ont., in women’s singles and Hope McLean of Newbury, Ont.,  and Trennt Michaud of Strathroy, Ont., in pairs.

“I feel I competed really well and brought a lot of confidence in my two programs,” said Tobin. “I need to bring more consistency in my free program for the nationals so I can produce a clean skate more often and also land my triple-triple combination which I have been working really hard on in training.”

McLean and Michaud performed a new short program.

‘’The short program wasn’t our best but it just gave us more motivation for the free skate,’’ said Michaud. ‘’We want to keep pushing the envelope and build our speed.’’

Winners in novice competition so far are, Katrina Lopez and Kurtis Schreiber of Calgary in pairs and Olivia Gran Kelowna, B.C., in women’s singles.

Pre-novice winners so far are Vasilisa Matantseva of Burnaby, B.C.,  in women’s singles and Keara Harney of Candiac, Que.,  and Zachary Freedman of Kingston, Ont., in pairs.

Competition continues through to Sunday. This is the sole qualifying event for novice, junior, and senior skaters to earn entries to the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships taking place in Halifax, N.S., from January 18-24, 2016.

Full results: 2016 Skate Canada Challenge

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