Bent and MacKeen seventh at ISU Junior Grand Prix

KOSICE, Slovakia – Mackenzie Bent of Uxbridge, Ont., and Garrett MacKeen of Oshawa, Ont., posted a seventh place finish in ice dancing on Sunday to conclude the the third stop on the Junior Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

The Canadian couple won the gold medal two weeks ago at the season opener and were fifth at the world junior championships last season. Needless to say, it didn’t go as planned this weekend.

‘’We felt we did well in the short dance (on Saturday) and the result threw us off a bit,’’ said Bent, 16, three years younger than her partner. ‘’It may have affected our confidence for the free dance. All we can do is review our performances and make the necessary corrections to get back on track.’’

Anna Yanovskaya and Sergey Mozgov of Russia finished ahead of two American couples for the gold medal.

Lauren Collins of Minesing, Ont., and Danny Seymour of Port Elgin, Ont., were 12th in their international debut.

‘’It was a good experience and I thought we skated well,’’ said Collins, 17, in her fifth season with Seymour, 19. ‘’We had a rough warm-up but in the end we attained our objectives in the competition.’’

In men’s competition, Leslie Ip of Markham, Ont., finished 10th in his international debut. Keiji Tanaka of Japan won the gold medal.

‘’I was pretty nervous going into this and I was pleased with how I calmed myself down in the competition,’’ said Ip, 18. ‘’That showed in the second half of my program today. To get a top-10 is very satisfying. I didn’t know what to expect.’’

Canada’s best result here was a sixth place finish for Tara Hancherow of Tisdale, Sask., and Wesley Killing of Woodstock, Ont., in pairs on Saturday.

Louis Daignault

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