Madeline Schizas emerges as women’s champion at 2020 Skate Canada Challenge

EDMONTON – The last two senior finals were held on Sunday to conclude the 2020 Skate Canada Challenge figure skating competition.

Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont.,  took the women’s title with 157.00 points followed by Aurora Cotop of Thornhill, Ont., at 152.94 and Michelle Long of Newmarket, Ont., at 150.20.

“The free skate went really well,” said Schizas. “We made some changes to the program and I think that was the right decision because I felt really confident. I’m hopeful I can get some international assignments later this season.”

In ice dancing, Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker of Burnaby, B.C.,  won the gold medal with 183.71 points. Alicia Fabbri of Terrebonne, Que.,  and Paul Ayer of Brossard, Que., took the silver at 174.40 and Molly Lanaghan and Dmitre Razgulajevs of Ajax, Ont., were third at 163.33.

“We feel like every competition we are progressing,” said Sales. “We’re focusing more on the little details.”

Junior

There were three finals in junior competition this weekend.

Corey Circelli of Toronto took the men’s gold with 184.46, Wesley Chiu of Richmond, B.C., was second at 179.64 and Matthew Newnham of St. Albert, Alta.  third at 177.97.

“I was inconsistent,” said Circelli. “I gave it a good fight but there were some mishaps here and there. Still, I achieved some goals so it was good to get that off the list.”

In the women’s event Kaiya Ruiter of Calgary placed first with 169.89. Catherine Carle of Georgetown, Ont., was second at 152.70 and Michelle Rivest of Trois-Rivieres, Que., was third at 134.85.

“I just try to go out there and have fun,” said Ruiter. “I’m proud to have to have skated my best but there are things that need to be improved.”

In ice dancing, Natalie D’Alessandro  and Bruce Waddell of Toronto took the gold with 174.32. Nadiia Bashynska and  Peter Beaumont of Toronto were second at 166.73 and Miku Makita of Anmore, B.C., and Tyler Gunara of Burnaby, B.C., third at 159.53.

“We’ve worked a lot on trying to improve our speed across the ice,” said D’Alessandro. “We felt like we went out and skated like we can.”

Pre novice

The competition was also the national championships for the pre-novice category. The last two finals were on the weekend.

In the last event Saturday night, Emma Yu and Daniel Yu of Calgary won the gold medal in ice dancing with 80.18. Abigail Jackson and Christian Nainer of Oakville, Ont., were second at 74.58 and Catharina Thibau and Nicholas Grozdanovski of Toronto were third at 73.74.

“It’s a bit of a shock to think we are Canadian champions,” said Daniel Yu. “It’s a great way to head into the novice level for next season.”

In men’s competition, Grayson Long of Oakville was the victor with 106.25. Anthony Paradis of Boisbriand, Que., was second at 101.51 and Noah Lim of of Toronto third at 84.84.

“I was really nervous after the short,” said Long. “I knew I had my work cut out for me to get first place.”

Full results: 2020 Skate Canada Challenge – Skate Canada

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