OTTAWA, ON: Approximately 500 skaters from across Canada will be heading to Pierrefonds, Que., for the 2015 Skate Canada Challenge. This year’s event will be taking place from December 3-7, 2014, at Sportplexe 4 Glaces Pierrefonds.
This is the sole qualifying event for novice, junior, and senior skaters to earn berths for the 2015 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships taking place in Kingston, Ont., from January 19-25, 2015. Skaters have qualified for the 2015 Skate Canada Challenge by advancing through their home sectional championships.
The 2015 Skate Canada Challenge will also see the crowning of the 2015 Canadian Pre-Novice Champions in men’s, women’s, pair, and ice dance.
National team member and Quebec section representative Elladj Baldé, 24, Pierrefonds, Que., will be returning to his hometown to compete in the senior men’s competition. Other national team members entered in the competition are Nam Nguyen, 16, Toronto, Ont., in senior men’s, and Kirsten Moore-Towers, 22, St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro, 22, Sarnia, Ont., and Brittany Jones, 18, Toronto, Ont., and Joshua Reagan, 24, Dallas, TX, USA, – Toronto, Ont., in senior pair.
Other notable contenders include Quebec section representatives and senior grand prix competitors Élisabeth Paradis, 22, Loretteville, Que., and François-Xavier Ouellette, 22, Laval, Que., as well as newly formed senior pair Lubov Iliushechkina, 23, Moscow, Russia, and Dylan Moscovitch, 30, Toronto, Ont.
Local competitors from the CPA des Deux-Rives in Pierrefonds include: Brandon Day (Pre-Novice Men), Samantha Couillard and Nelson Sanchez Leemet (Pre-Novice Pair), Sophia Simitsakos and Alexandre Roy (Pre-Novice Ice Dance), Sara Marier and Jeffrey Wong (Novice Ice Dance), Cassidy McFarlane and Kyle Cayouette (Novice Ice Dance), Sarah-Jade Latulippe and Alex Leak (Junior Pair), Christina Penkov and Aaron Chapplain (Junior Ice Dance), Valérie Taillefer and Jason Chan (Junior Ice Dance), Mariève Cyr and Benjamin Brisebois-Gaudreau (Senior Ice Dance), and Andréanne Poulin and Marc-André Servant (Senior Ice Dance).
For full entries and the event start orders please click here.
General admission tickets will be available for purchase at the Sportplexe 4 Glaces Pierrefonds throughout the event. All-event tickets are $50, day tickets will be available for purchase for $10 on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and $20 on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free for children ages 12 and under.