Four Titles Awarded at 2023 Novice Canadian Championships

CALGARY, ALTA. (February 21, 2023) – Four titles were awarded over the weekend at the 2023 Novice Canadian Championships, taking place at WinSport Arena in Calgary, Alberta.

Charlotte Chung and Axel Mackenzie of Toronto continued an impressive first season together on Monday with the gold medal in ice dancing. Chung and Mackenzie took the title with 113.70 points followed by two Quebec couples. Victoria Carandiuc and Andrei Carandiuc were second at 104.55 and Auréa Cinçon-Debout and Earl Jesse Celestino third at 103.72.

‘’We managed the nerves really well this weekend,’’ said Mackenzie, who also won the Skate Canada Challenge last month with his partner. ‘’We had great support from coaches, family and friends going into today and we wanted to skate our best.’’

In women’s competition, Lucille Yang of Ottawa, Ont., jumped from third after the short program to win the free skate and the gold medal with 139.08. Ashley Dinh of Oakville, Ont., was second at 136.71 and Mély-Ann Gagner of Sherbrooke, Que., third at 128.42.

‘’I’m proud of my skate and feel like I performed really well,’’ said Yang. ‘’My goal here was to have clean skates and have fun.’’

Quebec teams were 1-2 in pairs with Alexane Jean and Charly Laliberté-Laurent first at 119.42 and Beau Callahan and Benjamin Leduc second at 114.58. Annika Behnke and Kole Sauve of Edmonton, Alta., were third at 110.00.

‘’We really gave it our max,’’ said Laliberté-Laurent. ‘’We had a lot of confidence after winning the Skate Canada Challenge.’’

David Howes of Winnipeg, Man., completed the day of finals with the victory in men’s competition. He was first in both the short and free skates for 148.42. Vladimir Furman of St-Hubert, Que., was the silver medalist with 133.35 and Liam Schmidt of Laval, Que., took bronze with 132.35.

‘’I was definitely nervous for the free skate with the expectation of being first,’’ said Howes. ‘’I’m really excited and happy with the way it worked out. It wasn’t my cleanest program, but I fought.’’

The 2023 Skate Canada Cup starts tomorrow and will feature the top synchronized skating teams competing for national titles in novice, open and intermediate. For full results, click here.