Tag Archive for: 2014 Autumn Classic International

Duhamel and Radford create magic with quad Salchow

BARRIE, ON: It was a magical moment, for sure. The moment of the night, at the finale of the first Autumn Classic International, a senior B event. It’s not just about Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford winning the pairs event with a bold throw quad Salchow, their first in a competition, but it was the way they did it that mattered: with resolve, with lightness, with confidence, enough to make them feel they are in the running to win a world title. They have won two world bronze medals.

They did it with a free skate that is what Radford calls probably the most difficult free skate ever done by pair skaters: the quad throw, two triple Lutzes, one a throw, a three-jump combination (although there was a bobble on the final double toe loop), a big triple twist, some tough lifts, and all done with good speed.

“We just wanted to stand up,” Radford said. “I think we did better than that.” They got a standing ovation.

He said he knew when he released Duhamel in the quad Salchow that it was going to be good. Duhamel grazed the ice with a paw, and then threw her fist – she knew she would – and off they went, not giving it another thought. That was part of the plan.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Duhamel said. Four years ago, they had wanted to try that quad, but it wasn’t time. She took a hard fall on the throw quad at a Quebec competition a couple of weeks ago, but they felt pretty confident they could do it, all the same. They felt that way the first time they rotated one, that it could be done.

Afterward, five-time world champion Robin Szolkowy of Germany, congratulated Duhamel and Radford, saying that although they had made mistakes, it was a top performance for this point in the season. He was here as a coach for a Russian pair team.

What gives them confidence for the future is that they earned personal best scores – 203.16 overall – with a few mistakes. There’s room to grow. They won by almost 36 points over Haven Denny and Brandon Frazier of the United States. Another American team, Jessica Calalang and Zack Sidhu were third with 156.46 points.

Natasha Purich and Drew Wolfe, together only five months, were fourth with 147.95 points, a good start for a promising career. Wolfe had never skated pairs before he met up with Purich. Last year’s Canadian junior champions Vanessa Grenier and Maxime Deschamps were fifth with a rack of tough lifts, their specialty.

There were other highlights. Nam Nguyen landed his first quad Salchow – he’d been landing them consistently only for a week in practice.  U.S. skater Ross Miner held onto the overall win with 227.26 points, although he flipped out of his quad Salchow. Nguyen finished second overall with 225.63 (he’d been fifth after the short). Nguyen earned a standing ovation for his La Scala routine.

Some members of the crowd also stood for Jeremy Ten, who finished third overall with 212.64 points for his memorable “Hallelujah” routine. He didn’t attempt a quad because he got a new pair of boots a week ago, but got his triple Axel in. “I can’t put into words what I feel,” he said. “For me, it was more about the emotional performance.”

Kevin Reynolds valiantly attempted to give his heart to his effort but boot problems scuttled his performance. He did land a quad Salchow at the beginning and it gave him heart for the future. He was fifth in the free and sixth overall.

Gabby Daleman won the women’s event with 165.59 points although Angela Wang of the United States edged her in the free skate by 1.09 points. Daleman made mistakes in the free, but her routine was almost a complete overhaul from what she had shown at the Thornhill Skate. She started off with a new jump series: a triple Lutz- half loop – triple Salchow. A double Axel – triple toe loop just sung. She fell on a second triple Lutz, and put a foot down on a triple flip. She fell on a triple loop.

“I’m not going to lie,” Daleman said. “Last Friday was only the third time I had done the long program in the last week. It’s kind of a disadvantage. I’m not making excuses. But I didn’t give up. “

Amazingly, there were fans in the crowd from Tokyo, who endured a 15-hour flight to catch the action. “I was so grateful,” Daleman said.

Julianne Seguin finished third in the free skate, just behind the top two with 104.81 points. She was third overall with 158.99 points. She’d like to finish in the top five at Canadians and make the national team as a singles skater, although she and pair partner Charlie Bilodeau are the top-ranked team among ISU Junior Grand Prix finalists.

Three teams from the dance school of Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon finished within the top five in the dance event. Their team from France, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron won the dance event with 150.20 after sweeping both the short dance and free skate.

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier moved up from fourth after the short dance to be second in the free and second overall with 142.52 points. Third was Dubreuil and Lauzon’s Danish team, Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen, with 131.62 (they were third in the free dance). Beaudry is a Quebecker.

All went wrong for Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam in the free skate when they missed an entry into a spin and lost all points for it, even though they attempted it. Islam also slipped while stroking. They dropped from second to fifth in the free and fourth overall.

Dubreuil and Lauzon’s third team, Sara Hurtado and Adria Diaz of Spain finished fifth overall after being third in the short dance.

Duhamel and Radford catch gold with big throw at Skate Canada Autumn International

BARRIE, Ont. – Meaghan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., landed a quadruple Salchow throw for the first time in competition on Thursday en route to the gold medal in pairs at the Skate Canada Autumn International.

Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., also added a victory in women’s competition as Canadians marched six times to the podium to conclude the sixth stop on the ISU’s new Challenger Series.

Duhamel and Radford, bronze medallists at the last two world championships, totalled 203.16 points in a decisive victory. Haven Denny and Brandon Frazier of the U.S. were second at 167.28 and their compatriots Jessica Calalang and Zach Sidhu were third at 156.46.

‘’We know that if we want to nail it by the time the world championships come around we are going to have to try it at every single competition,’’ said Duhamel. ‘’The key for us is that we’ve been landing it every single day in practice and that’s given us a lot of confidence to attempt it in our program.’’

Radford says a big challenge is not forgetting about the rest of the program once the quad Salchow is completed.

‘’There’s a lot of adrenaline after we land it,’’ he said. ‘’The crowd went wild but we could feel inside that we still had a job to do and a long way to go. We really kept our composure for the rest of the program.’’

Natasha Purich of Sherwood Park, Alta., and Andrew Wolfe of Calgary were fourth, Vanessa Grenier of Sherbrooke, Que., and Maxime Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., fifth and Brittany Jones and Joshua Reagan of Toronto seventh.

In women’s competition, Daleman won the gold medal with 165.59 points. Angela Wang of the U.S. was second at 163.68 and Julianne Seguin of Longueuil, Que., third at 158.99.

‘’To come out with the gold medal is such a great feeling,’’ said Daleman, 16, an Olympic team member last season. ‘’It shows the hard work pays off. It sets me up with so much more confidence for the rest of the season.’’

Seguin is also enjoying a brilliant season in pairs with partner Charlie Bilodeau on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit with two victories. Now she’s added to her medal collection in singles as well.

‘’The focus this year for me is primarily in pairs so to get a medal tonight is really exciting,’’ she said. ‘’It sets me up well for Skate Canada.’’

It was also a big night for 16-year-old Nam Nguyen of Toronto who landed his first quadruple Salchow in competition to soar from fifth after the short program to the silver medal. He scored a personal best 159.55 to win the free skate and totalled 225.63. Ross Miner of the U.S. was first overall at 227.36 for the gold and Jeremy Ten of Vancouver took the bronze at 212.64.

Nguyen only landed the quad Salchow for the first time in training on Saturday.

‘’I thought to myself what a relief to land it just in time for this competition,’’ he said. ‘’It was exciting to come out here and be able to show everyone that I could do it. I had started working on my quad in March, the progress was pretty good and each week I was getting closer and closer to success.’’

Ten was also pleased with his free skate.

‘’I’ve been working really hard with that program and I wanted to get that emotional connection out there,’’ he said. ‘’I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season.’’

Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., was sixth and Andrei Rogozine of Newmarket, Ont., 11th.

In ice dancing, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France took top spot with 150.20 points. Piper Gilles of Toronto and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., climbed from fourth to second overall at 142.52 and Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen of Denmark were third at 131.62.

‘’Today was a display of resilience for us,’’ said Poirier. ‘’The short program didn’t go as planned so we wanted to put that behind us today and just focus ahead. We were pleased with the performance.’’

Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam of Barrie were fourth, Nicole Orford of Burnaby, B.C., and Thomas Williams of Okotoks, Alta., sixth and Andréanne Poulin of Ile-Bizard, Que., and Marc-André Servant of Vaudreuil, Que., eighth.

Full results: 2014 Autumn Classic International

Duhamel and Radford, Daleman lead after short programs at Skate Canada Autumn International

BARRIE, Ont – Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., grabbed the lead in pairs and Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., tops the women standings after Wednesday’s short programs at the Skate Canada Autumn International figure skating competition.

The competition is the sixth stop on the new ISU Challenger Series.

In pairs, Duhamel and Radford lead with 68.92 points with Jessica Calalang and Zack Sidhue of the U.S. second at 59.02 and Natasha Purich of Sherwood Park, Alta., and Andrew Wolfe of Calgary third at 54.84.  Vanessa Grenier of Sherbrooke, Que., and Maxime Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., are sixth and Brittany Jones and Joshua Reagan of Toronto are eighth.

‘’We felt really comfortable out there and skated with freedom,’’ said Radford, the world championship bronze medallist with his partner the past two seasons.  ‘’Even though we are seasoned competitors, you’re somewhat looking for your bearings at the beginning of the season.’’

In women’s competition, Daleman leads after the short program with 59.38 points.  Angela Wang of the U.S. is second at 56.38 and Julianne Seguin of Longueuil, Que., third at 54.18.

‘’It felt fantastic to compete that short program for the first time,’’ said Daleman, 16, an Olympic and world championship team member last season.  ‘’It was great to see the how crowd enjoyed it.’’

Canada is also in the medal hunt in ice dancing and men’s competition.

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France are first after the short dance at 59.74, crowd favorites Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam of Barrie are second at 55.30 and Sara Hurtado and Adria Diaz of Spain are third at 54.14 just ahead of Piper Gilles of Toronto and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., in fourth at 53.42.

‘’We are super happy with the performance we put out today,’’ said Islam.  ‘’It was our first competition of the season and we just wanted to get things out there although we probably got dinged hard by the judges for struggling with our lift at the end.’’

Nicole Orford of Burnaby, B.C., and Thomas Williams of Okotoks, Alta., are sixth and Andréanne Poulin of Ile-Bizard, Que., and Marc-André Servant of Vaudreuil, Que., are 10th.

After the men’s short program, Ross Miner of the U.S. is first at 80.24, Ronald Lam of Hong Kong second at 73.75 and Jeremy Ten of Vancouver is third at 69.22.

‘’I’m disappointed in missing my Axel because I had been landing it consistently in training, said Ten, 25. ‘’Still, I came back strong for the rest of the program.  That shows how much I’ve matured as a skater.’’

Nam Nguyen of Toronto is fifth, Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., seventh and Andrei Rogozine of Newmarket, Ont., 11th.

Competition ends Thursday with the free skates in all four event.

Full results: 2014 Autumn Classic International

Champions abound in Barrie at the 2014 Autumn Classic International

Barrie, Ont. – The Skate Canada Autumn Classic International is Canada’s first senior B international event and who did they get to fill the holes on the ice during the remake after the women’s short program? World champion Jeffrey Buttle, his ID flying around his neck, with his bare hands, watching for every crease.

Buttle trained at the Mariposa Skating Club at the Allandale Recreation Centre for many years, and above his head is a plaque, bearing his name and achievements. Now he can add ice bucket boy to them.

And even better, the crowd knew they were in a place with a sign at the end of the arena that said: “You are now in quad country,” so because of the multiple-rotating Elvis Stojko, but Buttle too landed his rare quad toe loop – triple toe loop while training at the Mariposa with Lee Barkell.

And the quads were back on Wednesday night. American Ross Miner, looking very fit, landed a quad Salchow and leads the men’s short program with 80.24 points. And surprise of all surprises, unheralded Ronald Lam, who has trained with coach Bruno Delmaestro of Coquitlam, B.C, since he began to skate, landed a quad toe – triple toe and is in second place at 73.75.

Lam, formerly in Skate Canada’s fold, switched nationalities to Hong Kong in the run-up to the Sochi Olympics. He didn’t make it to Sochi, but quietly silenced many other more highly ranked skaters with his efforts on Wednesday.

In third place is Jeremy Ten at 69.22, without a quad. He’s decided to forgo the quad at this competition because he just got a new pair of boots a week ago and didn’t want to risk injury. He’ll save the pyrotechnics for Skate Canada in two weeks. He’s got a quad though, and was pleased to know that Buttle was at the event: Buttle was his hero.

Kevin Reynolds, Canada’s Quad King, is in seventh place at 64.56 and not at all sure how he’s going to get through the long program on Thursday. Boot problems continue to frustrate him to distraction. Last year, he went through nine pairs of boots, trying to resolve problems surrounding his uncommonly narrow heel, and this year, thinking he was on a track to solve it, well forget it. He’s gone through four more. Each new pair breaks down in a week or two. As he said, it’s “unsustainable” for him to catch the feeling. He was hoping for better in the next week, but competitions don’t wait.

Even Brendan Kerry of Australia landed a quad in the short program. It’s not new for him. He landed one at Australian nationals in 2012, and everybody at home got excited at the first quad by an Australian in a decade when Anthony Liu competed.  Kerry is in sixth place, about a point and a half behind Nam Nguyen, who popped his Lutz and has 66.08. Nam plans a quad Salchow for the long. And he declared that he wants to win the Canadian championships this year.

The other quad people – Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, who promise a throw quad Salchow in the free – skated with a freedom they’ve never enjoyed before to win the pair short program with 68.92 points, well ahead of Jessica Calalang and Zack Sidhu of the United States with 59.02 points. An exciting new Canadian team, Natasha Purich and Drew Wolfe are in third place with 54.84 points – even though Wolfe had never skated pairs before five months ago. Coach Richard Gauthier says he’s never seen a skater learn pair skills so quickly.

In ice dancing, French skaters Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron won the short dance and Canadian silver medalist Gabby Daleman won the women’s short program with an energetic performance.

Papadakis and Cizeron came to Canada for choreography last spring. They ended up staying.

And Wednesday, they used the spit and polish that they learned from Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon – and French import Roman Haganauer – to win the short dance at the Autumn Classic, the first senior B international event ever held in Canada. Granted the Mariposa School of Skating has seen lots of international skaters in its heyday, but never so many in a competition.

Papadakis and Cizeron won with 59.74 points, 4.44 points more than Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam, who are skating with a newfound confidence after making it to the Sochi Olympics last February. The experience left a mark on Paul and Islam – in a good way – and they performed an expressive Paso Doble.

Daleman fired off a confident triple toe loop – triple toe loop combination and stumbled a bit on the landing of a triple flip, but the effort was stellar, worth 59.38 points, especially considering she was ill a week before the Autumn Classic.

She was sick for a week, she said, and finally went for some tests that confirmed only that she had pushed too hard in training while suffering from a virus that’s hard on the body. “I couldn’t walk without shaking,” she said. But she was back on the ice for a week before this event.

“This is a great way to start the season,” she said. “I had a little difficulty with the flip, but I’m so proud of what I’ve done.” She said she’s come to this season with a new attitude: grateful to have the chance to do what she loves.

She sailed past Angela Wang of the United States, who is in second place. Julianne Seguin got 54.18, even though she had little time to train for this event. She had just returned from Dresden where she and pair partner Charlie Bilodeau won the Junior Grand Prix and qualified for the Final. So far, she’s juggling both pairs and singles.

 

Returning home, Alexandra Paul & Mitchell Islam to debut new programs in Barrie

Finally. No pressure. No injuries. Clear road ahead.

Canadian bronze medalists Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam see their world opening up this season, having finally snared two Grand Prix events after their efforts at the world championships last March in Japan.

It’s hard to believe, but that world championship in Japan was only their first. They had shown such promise after they had been paired up back in 2009. Within less than a year, they had won the Canadian junior title and earned a silver medal at the world junior championships. Their rise seemed meteoric.

Their debut at the senior level – at a Skate Canada International – gave people goosebumps. Then, while they had other plans, life happened.  Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. They suffered crazy injuries that scuttled their Grand Prix assignments over the next two seasons. Third at their first crack at the senior national level in 2011, they sunk to fifth the next year and then to fourth after a fall in the free dance. Last year, they upped their game, finished third again at nationals and earned their way to the Olympics. Sochi was an experience they will never forget. As many did, they photographed themselves standing within the giant Olympic rings at the venue.

The big triumph this season already is that they have earned two Grand Prix assignments. During the 2012-13 season, they got no Grand Prix at all, and last season, they got only the home Grand Prix, Skate Canada International. It’s been a long struggle uphill for a team that had so much early promise.

Their career has been stop and start. They were on a high to finish third at the Canadian championships, but their 18th place finish in Sochi wasn’t all they had hoped for. Later, Islam said they were distracted by all things Olympic – and they skated with too much caution. In the next few weeks, they redoubled their efforts to finish 10th at the world championships in Japan.

That 10th place finish at the world championships gave them a high-enough placing internationally that they earned two Grand Prix this season: Cup of China and Trophée Eric Bompard in Bordeaux, France.

They had lost confidence for a time. Now they have it. “Last season was so long,” Paul said. “It was good to have downtime after worlds.” They took time off in April and May, skipped summer competitions, spent time with their families and are returning refreshed.

“We’re in a different spot now,” Islam said. “We feel good now. It’s been nice. We enjoyed the summer. How we are training with confidence. If you are confident, you carry it into your training. Every day we prove to ourselves that we belong on top. “Attitude is everything.

Sure, they had a tough couple of years, he said, but they are “a lot more settled,” Islam said. “The confidence is way higher.”

With that in mind, Paul says they would like to win medals at both of their Grand Prix events. “It will be tough,” she said. “But it’s tough at all Grand Prix.”

How tough? At Cup of China, they are in against world champions Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte of Italy, the new team of Elena Ilinykh and Ruslan Zhiganshin of Russia (She was fourth with her previous partner and he was seventh with his previous partner at worlds last year); and Americans Maia and Alex Shibutani (sixth last year).

In France, Paul and Islam will take on Cappellini and Lanotte again, Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev of Russia (world bronze medalists a couple of years ago) and countrymen Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, eighth at worlds.

“We don’t see ourselves being out of place with bronze at both events,” Islam said.

They come equipped with two great programs. Their coaches Pasquale Camerlengo and Anjelika Krylova did the choreography for their short dance in June: it’s a Paso flamenco, and the music – “Nocturno” by Luciani and “Farruca y Rhumba” by Pepe Romero is exactly what they used when they won the silver medal at the world junior championships in 2009-2010. “Now we’re in a different part of our career and we are different skaters,” Islam said. They had found the music on iTunes.

Then they headed off to Montreal later that month to have Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon create their free dance, using a Frank Sinatra-Gloria Estefan duet. It was a heady experience: Paul and Islam say Dubreuil and Lauzon are their idols – and they had gone to them once before, with great results. Dubreuil and Lauzon designed their free dance that created such a furore at their senior international debut at Skate Canada International in Kingston, Ontario in 2011.

They had skated to lyrical music, “As Time Goes By,” which allowed them to show off their ease of movement, and effortless freedom. They earned a standing ovation for it, and actually finished second, (fourth overall) ahead of Sinead and John Kerr, who had been ranked fifth in the world at the time. It was only Paul and Islam’s second season together.

Now they have gone back to the same well, and they will skate to something new: “Come Rain or Come Shine” and “The Way You Look Tonight.”

“We knew what we wanted to do,” Paul said. “We wanted something romantic. We wanted to add another layer and the jazzy blues is a difference in style for us.”

It took them four days to choreograph it. “We had so much fun,” Islam said.

They’ve also been stepping up their lifts. They worked with an acrobat in Montreal.

They’re proud of themselves for the big jump they made in the standings between Olympics and worlds, when they were able to turn things around. They also would like to be within the top eight at worlds in Shanghai this year. They will take that first step by returning home to their former training ground in Barrie, Ontario to compete at the Skate Canada Autumn Classic International this week.

Canadian skaters headlining the field at inaugural Skate Canada Autumn Classic International in Barrie

OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada will send 14 entries, for a total of 22 skaters to the inaugural 2014 Skate Canada Autumn Classic International (#ACI14), a senior international competition. It is the sixth event this season on the International Skating Union’s (ISU) new Challenger Series. The event runs from October 14-17, 2014, in Barrie, Ont., at the Allandale Recreation Centre. Canada will have four entries per category in men’s, pair, and ice dance, and two entries in ladies.

Olympic silver medallists (team) and two-time world bronze medallists Meagan Duhamel, 28, Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford, 29, Balmertown, Ont., will lead the way for the Canadian team in pair. Last season, the representatives of Walden FSC and CPA Saint-Léonard placed seventh at the Olympic Winter Games in pair, and won silver in the team event. Duhamel and Radford also won their second straight world bronze medal and won the Canadian title for the third year in a row. They are coached by Richard Gauthier and Bruno Marcotte at CPA Saint-Léonard.

Brittany Jones, 18, Toronto, Ont., and Joshua Reagan, 24, Dallas, TX, USA, – Toronto, Ont., will also represent Canada in pair. This will be their second event on the ISU Challenger series, having placed fourth at the 2014 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic earlier this season. Last season, they placed seventh at the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. Jones and Reagan are coached by Kristy Wirtz and Kris Wirtz at the Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club.

Natasha Purich, 19, Sherwood Park, Alta., and Drew Wolfe, 19, Calgary, Alta., are the third Canadian entry in pair. The duo, representing CPA Saint-Léonard and the Glencoe Club, will be making their international debut, having teamed up in the offseason. They train at CPA Saint-Léonard and are coached by Richard Gauthier and Bruno Marcotte.

Vanessa Grenier, 22, Sherbrooke, Que., and Maxime Deschamps, 22, Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., will also represent Canada in pair. The 2014 Canadian junior pair champions from CPA Sherbrooke and CPAR Vaudreuil will be making their second stop on the ISU Challenger Series, having placed fifth at the Nebelhorn Trophy earlier this season. Grenier and Deschamps are coached by Richard Gauthier and Bruno Marcotte at CPA Saint- Léonard.

Olympic silver medallist (team) Kevin Reynolds, 24, Coquitlam, B.C., is the first of four Canadian entries in the men’s discipline. Last season, the 2013 ISU Four Continents champion and Vancouver SC representative placed 15th (men’s) at the Olympic Winter Games, 11th at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, and won his third consecutive Canadian silver medal. He is coached by Joanne McLeod at the Champs International Skating Centre in Burnaby, B.C.

Nam Nguyen, 16, Toronto, Ont., will be the second Canadian entry in men’s. The 2014 Junior World Champion also placed 12th at the 2014 ISU World Figure Skating Championships and fifth at the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. Nguyen is coached by Brian Orser and Ernest Pryhitka at the Toronto Cricket Skating & Curling Club.

Jeremy Ten, 25, Vancouver, B.C., will also represent Canada in men’s. Last season, he won bronze at the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy, placed sixth at the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, and ninth at the 2014 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. The representative of Grandview SC is coached by Joanne McLeod and Neil Wilson at the Champs International Skating Centre.

Andrei Rogozine, 21, Newmarket, Ont., will round out the Canadian entries in men’s. This will be his second stop of the ISU Challenger Series, having placed sixth at the 2014 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic earlier this year. Last season, the representative of Richmond Hill FSC placed eighth at Skate Canada International and seventh at the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. He is coached by Tom Zakrajsek and trains in Colorado Springs, CO, USA.

Gabrielle Daleman, 16, Newmarket, Ont., is the first of two Canadian entries in ladies. Last season, she placed 17th at the Winter Olympic Games and 13th at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships. Representing Richmond Hill FSC, Daleman also won her second consecutive Canadian silver medal. She is coached by Andrei Berezintsev and Inga Zusev and trains at the Richmond Training Centre in Richmond Hill, Ont.

Julianne Séguin, 17, Longueuil, Que., is the second Canadian entry in ladies. Last season, she placed sixth at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Mexico and ninth at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in the Czech Republic. Representing CPA Longueuil, Séguin also placed seventh at the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. Julianne is coached by Josée Picard and Marc-André Craig and trains in Chambly, Que.

Alexandra Paul, 23, Midhurst, Ont., and Mitchell Islam, 24, Barrie, Ont., are one of four Canadian entries in the ice dance category. Last season, they placed 18th at the Olympic Winter Games and 10th at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships. Representing Barrie SC, Paul and Islam also won bronze at the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. They train at the Detroit Skating Club with coaches Pasquale Camerlengo, Angelika Krylova, and Natalia Deller.

Piper Gilles, 22, Toronto, Ont., and Paul Poirier, 22, Unionville, Ont., will also represent Canada in ice dance. Last season, the representatives of Scarboro FSC won silver at the 2014 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, placed eighth at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships and placed fourth at the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. Gilles and Poirier are coached by Carol Lane and Juris Razgulajevs at Ice Dance Elite in Scarborough, Ont.

Nicole Orford, 21, Burnaby, B.C., and Thomas Williams, 23, Okotoks, Alta., are the third Canadian entry in ice dance. The representatives of Inlet SC and Calalta Community FSC, will be making their second stop on the ISU Challenger series, having won the silver medal at the 2014 U.S. International Skating Classic. Last season, they placed fifth at the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships and fifth at the 2014 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. Orford and Williams are coached by Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe at the Champs International Skating Centre.

Andréanne Poulin, 19, L’Île-Bizard, Que., and Marc-André Servant, 23, Vaudreuil, Que., will also represent Canada in ice dance. This will be their first international assignment since winning two bronze medals on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit in 2012 in the U.S.A. and in Slovenia. The representatives of Club de Patinage des Deux-Rives are coached by Shawn Winter at the Pierrefonds Sportplexe 4 Glaces.

Louis Stong of Etobicoke, Ont., and Terra Findlay of Echo Bay, Ont., will be the Canadian team leaders onsite. Lorna Schroder of Georgetown, Ont., Sylvain Guibord of Brossard, Que., Elizabeth Clark of Ottawa, Ont., and Lynne Dey of Edmonton, Alta., will be the Canadian officials at the event.

For more information and full entries please visit the Skate Canada website.

CANADIAN ENTRIES AT 2014 SKATE CANADA AUTUMN CLASSIC INTERNATIONAL

Discipline Name Age Hometown Club Coach
Men’s Kevin Reynolds 24 Coquitlam, B.C. Vancouver SC Joanne McLeod
Men’s Nam Nguyen 16 Toronto, Ont. Toronto Cricket Skating & Curling Club Brian Orser / Ernest Pryhitka
Men’s Jeremy Ten 25 Vancouver, B.C. Grandview SC Joanne McLeod / Neil Wilson
Men’s Andrei Rogozine 21 Newmarket, Ont. Richmond Hill FSC Tom Zakrajsek
Ladies Gabrielle Daleman 16 Newmarket, Ont. Richmond Hill FSC Andrei Berezintsev / Inga Zusev
Ladies Julianne Séguin 17 Longueuil, Que. CPA Longueil Josée Picard / Marc-André Craig
Pairs Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford 28/29 Lively, Ont. / Balmertown, Ont. Walden FSC / CPA Saint-Léonard Richard Gauthier / Bruno Marcotte
Pairs Brittany Jones / Joshua Reagan 18/24 Toronto, Ont. / Dallas, TX, USA – Toronto, Ont. Kitchener-Waterloo SC/ Kitchener-Waterloo SC Kris Wirtz / Kristy Wirtz
Pairs Natasha Purich / Drew Wolfe 19/19 Sherwood Park, Alta. / Calgary, Alta. CPA Saint-Léonard / Glencoe Club Richard Gauthier / Bruno Marcotte
Pairs Vanessa Grenier / Maxime Deschamps 22/22 Sherbrooke, Que. / Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que. CPA Sherbrooke / CPA Vaudreuil Richard Gauthier / Bruno Marcotte
Ice dance Alexandra Paul / Mitchell Islam 23/24 Midhurst, Ont. / Barrie, Ont. Barrie SC / Barrie SC Pasquale Camerlengo / Angelika Krylova / Natalia Deller
Ice Dance Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier 22/22 Toronto, Ont. – Colorado Springs, CO, U.S.A. / Unionville, Ont. Scarboro FSC / Scarboro FSC Carol Lane / Juris Razgulajevs
Ice Dance Nicole Orford / Thomas Williams 21/23 Burnaby, B.C. / Okotoks, Alta. Inlet SC / Calalta Community FSC Megan Wing / Aaron Lowe
Ice Dance Andréanne Poulin / Marc-André Servant 19/23 L’Île-Bizard, Que. / Vaudreuil, Que. Club De Patinage Des Deux-Rives / Club De Patinage Des Deux-Rives Shawn Winter

World-class skaters headline Skate Canada’s first-ever Autumn Classic International

OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada will host the inaugural 2014 Skate Canada Autumn Classic International in Barrie, Ontario from October 14-17, 2014 at the Allandale Recreation Centre. This senior international competition is part of the International Skating Union’s (ISU) Challenger Series.

While skaters from 22 different countries have entered the event, Canada leads the way with 16 entries. Five members of the Canadian 2014 Olympic silver medal team, Meagan Duhamel, Eric Radford, Kirsten Moore-Towers, Kaetlyn Osmond and Kevin Reynolds headline the home entries. Other notable competitors include Narumi Takahashi of Japan (2012), who will compete with partner Ryuichi Kihara.

Barrie natives and Canadian world and Olympic team members Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam will return to their hometown to compete in ice dance. Also challenging for the ice dance title will be Canadian world team members Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.

The 2014 Autumn Classic International is one of 11 competitions that will form the ISU’s new Challenger Series. Athletes have the opportunity to compete at the senior level and earn world standing points. Competitors are eligible to participate in up to three Challenger Series events.

The senior only competition will run in conjunction with the Skate Canada-Central Ontario Section Octoberfest competition. A full list of competitors has been posted on the ISU website.

Tickets are general admission and will be sold at the door only. Adult tickets are $6 per day, $4 for seniors and children under 12, and children under three are free.

MENS

Nam NGUYEN
Kevin REYNOLDS
Andrei ROGOZINE
Jeremy TEN

LADIES

Gabrielle DALEMAN
Kaetlyn OSMOND
Julianne SEGUIN

ICE DANCE

Piper GILLES / Paul POIRIER
Nicole ORFORD / Thomas WILLIAMS
Alexandra PAUL / Mitchell ISLAM
Andreanne POULIN / Marc-Andre SERVANT

PAIRS

Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD
Vanessa GRENIER / Maxime DESCHAMPS
Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Michael MARINARO
Natasha PURICH / Andrew WOLFE