Moore-Towers and Marinaro win bronze at U.S. International Classic

Salt Lake City – Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., won the bronze medal in pairs on Friday at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic.

Tarah Kayne and Daniel O’Shea of the U.S. took the gold with 170.30 points edging compatriots Marissa Castelli and Mervin Tran in second at 169.46. Moore-Towers and Marinaro totalled 160.08 in their season opening event.

“It felt a little slow to us, but the score was a bit of a shock,” Moore-Towers said. “We lost a few levels. Our program components score was lower than we’d like it to be. We have a lot of work to do between now and the end of October for Skate Canada.”

Vanessa Grenier of Sherbrooke, Que., and Maxime Deschamps of Vaudreuil, Que., were fourth at 148.52.

Canada is also in the medal hunt in ice dancing. Élisabeth Paradis of Loretteville, Que., and François Xavier-Ouellette of Laval, Que., are tied for second spot with Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen of Denmark after the short dance with 51.58. Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the U.S. lead at 61.08.

“We’re happy with some things, our connection together and how we told the story and followed the music,” Paradis said. “We had some struggles on a few elements.”

Brianna Delmaestro of Port Moody, B.C., and Timothy Lum of Burnaby, B.C., the Canadian junior champions, are sixth.

In women’s competition after the short program Véronik Mallet of Sept-Iles, Que., and Canadian junior champion Selena Zhao of Varennes, Que., are eighth and ninth.

In men’s competition, Christophe Belley of Quebec City finished eighth.

Competition ends Sunday with the free dance and women’s free skate.

Full results: U.S. International Figure Skating Classic