Skaters vie for entries to Canadian championships at 2014 Skate Canada Challenge

OTTAWA, ON:  Approximately 500 skaters will be heading to Regina, Sask., for the 2014 Skate Canada Challenge, taking place from December 4-8, 2013. This year’s event marks the third straight year the event has been hosted at The Co-Operators Centre at Evraz Place.

This is the sole qualifying event for novice, junior, and senior skaters to earn berths for the 100th anniversary 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships taking place in Ottawa, Ont., from January 9-15, 2014. In order to qualify for the 2014 Skate Canada Challenge all skaters have advanced through their home sections.

The 2014 Skate Canada Challenge will also see the crowning of the 2014 Canadian Pre-Novice Champions in men’s, women’s, pair, and ice dance.

National team members and Canadian bronze medallists Paige Lawrence, 23, Kennedy, Sask., and Rudi Swiegers, 26, Kipling, Sask., will represent home section Saskatchewan in the senior pair discipline. Canadian bronze medallist Andrei Rogozine, 20, Richmond Hill, Ont., will be competing in senior men’s. The senior ladies division will feature all three 2013 Canadian medallists, Kaetlyn Osmond, 17, Marystown, Nfld. & Sherwood Park, Alta., Gabrielle Daleman, 15, Newmarket, Ont., and Alaine Chartrand, 17, Prescott, Ont.

Other notable contenders are national team members, Liam Firus, 20, North Vancouver, B.C., in senior men’s, Veronik Mallet, 19, Sept-Îles, Que., in senior women’s, and Kharis Ralph, 21, Toronto, Ont., and Asher Hill, 22, Pickering, Ont., in senior ice dance. In addition, three-time Canadian Champion Emanuel Sandhu, 33, Vancouver, B.C., will compete in Regina for the second consecutive year following a six year competitive hiatus.

Local Regina competitors include: Ai Lin (Pre-Novice Women), Koen Kucher-Paulmark (Pre-Novice Men), Nina Hill (Novice Women), and Garrett Gosselin (Senior Men).

General admission tickets will be available for purchase at The Co-Operators Centre at Evraz Place throughout the event. All-event tickets are $40, day tickets will be available for purchase for $10 on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and $15 on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free for children ages 12 and under.

Media who have not already applied for accreditation are asked to contact Allan Gordon, Communications Assistant. He will be the media contact at the event and can be reached onsite at 613.229.7114 or at [email protected].