Nexxice and Les Suprêmes crowned national champions

OSHAWA, Ont. – Nexxice from Burlington, Ont., and Les Suprêmes from St-Léonard, Que., waged epic battles in both senior and junior competition on Saturday and each gained a title at the 2018 Skate Canada Synchronized Skating Championships.

In senior competition, Nexxice totalled 202.72 points for its two programs followed closely by Les Suprêmes at 200.20. Nova from Brossard, Que., was third at 188.34.

“It felt really good,” said Kelly Britten of Nexxice. “We did a lot of things to stay focused on ourselves and it really helped us make the performance come alive.”

The top two senior teams will represent Canada at the 2018 ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships taking place in Stockholm from April 6-7.

“We just wanted to do the same thing as in practice,” said Laurie Desilets of Les Suprêmes. “The plan was the same just to skate for us and have a lot of fun.”

Les Suprêmes hung on to top spot to win the junior title with 166.84 points, just ahead of Nexxice at 162.60. Gold Ice from Brampton, Ont., was third at 130.46.

“There’s no words, it felt just like we did in practice,” said Jessica Iacono of Les Suprêmes. “We were very in the moment and present and very together in what we were doing.”

The Nexxice group produced their best-ever score.

“We are really proud,” said Amanda Kauffman of Nexxice. “We had some adverse conditions today with the delay and we were able to regroup and refocus ourselves.”

In Intermediate competition, Meraki from Toronto won the gold medal with 111.32, Nexxice was second at 105.01 and Les Rythmiks from Repentigny, Que., third at 104.33.

“These girls have worked so hard this whole season and in particular these last two weeks,” said Meaghan Churchill of Meraki. “We put in every blood, sweat and tear we had in us today.”

More than 800 skaters from 40 teams are at the event being held at the Tribute Communities Centre.

Competition concludes Sunday with the novice and open free skates.

Full results: Skate Canada – 2018 Skate Canada Synchronized Skating Championships.