Medal bonanza for Canadian novice skaters at Egna Spring Trophy

EGNA, Italy – Canada swept the medals in novice women competition on Saturday to cap a productive day at the Egna Spring Trophy figure skating competition.

Sandrine Bouchard of Lévis, Que., won the gold in novice women Group 1 with 106.97 points. Mélaurie Boivin of Alma, Que., won the free skate to surge from fifth to second at 106.50 and Amelia Orzel of Woodbridge, Ont., was third at 105.29.

“It was a wonderful experience and we learned a lot,” said Bouchard. “It’s going to beneficial for us in our upcoming competitions. My Salchow today wasn’t on because I was feeling a bit nervous.”

Boivin picked up big points with a double Axel-triple toe combination.

“They are my two favorite jumps and I love doing combinations,” she said.

Orzel’s highlight was a triple Lutz and a triple toe combination.

“The Lutz is my first jump so I was a bit nervous going into it,” she said. “But it worked out and that gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the program.”

Daria Carr of Kelowna, B.C., was fifth at 91.42.

Canada was 1-2 in novice men competition. Aleksa Rakic of Burnaby, B.C., won the gold medal with 129.62 points with Brian Chiem of Edmonton taking the silver with 117.16 and Maxim Knorr of Germany third at 110.70.

“I tried to replicate what I did in training,” said Rakic. “It was great to end that program on a high note. Now I’ll start preparing new programs with new elements with more jumps and more jumps in combination.”

Alec Guinzbourg of Kingston, Ont., second after the short program on Friday, withdrew.

Canada fielded all three entries in novice pairs. Brooke McIntosh of Toronto and Brandon Toste of Mississauga, Ont., took gold with 94.48, Marine Pouliot of Lorraine, Que., and Alexandre Simard of Rivière-Ouelle, Que., were second at 92.58 and Camille Perrault of Orford, Que., and Bryan Pierro of St-Hubert, Que., were third at 86.61.

“It was amazing and a lot of fun,” said McIntosh. “The crowd was really supportive for us. That really motivated and inspired us.”

Leah Lee of Vancouver was sixth in novice women group 2.

The junior free skates are Sunday.

Full results: http://www.fisg.it/upload/result/4597/index.html.

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