Men and Women Champions Crowned at the 2023 Skate Canada Challenge Pre-Novice/Novice

REGINA, SK (January 27, 2023) – The men’s and women’s champions were crowned on Thursday at the 2023 Skate Canada Challenge Pre-Novice/Novice.

In novice competition, the winners were David Howes of Winnipeg,MB and Gabrielle Jugnauth of Kelowna, B.C.

Jugnauth soared from sixth place after the short program to win the women’s event with 144.43 points. Mély-Ann Gagner of Sherbrooke, Que., was second at 137.76 and Lucille Yang of Ottawa jumped from 12^th to third at 135.22.

‘’I was really comfortable with my long program and I’m happy with it,’’ said Jugnauth. ‘’I want to improve my short program for the novice nationals.’’

Howes won a tight battle in the men’s event with 130.73 points. Quebec’s Vladimir Furman won the free skate but remained second overall at 130.54 and William Chan of Richmond, B.C. surged from 11^th after the short program to third with 112.78.

‘’I’m over the moon,’’ said Howes. ‘’It’s been a long season with a lot of development. I’ve shown a lot of improvement over the year.’’

In men’s pre-novice, Rui Qin Regina took the gold with a Canadian record 109.44. Travis Trang of Edmonton was second with 97.52 and Louie Fukuda-Wu of Richmond, B.C., third at 93.48.

In the women’s pre-novice, Lia Cho of Red Deer, Alta., was first, Sandrine Blais of Sherbrooke second and Ksenia Krouzkevitch of Oakville, Ont., climbed from 22^nd after the short to win the bronze with the best free skate.

Competition continues through to Saturday with the pairs and ice dance events.

Full results: https://skatecanada.ca/2023-skate-canada-challenge-pre-novice-novice/#starting-orders–results