MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier reached new heights in ice dancing, Roman Sadovky upset two veterans and it was a teenage medal sweep in the women’s event Saturday at the 2020 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships.

Only Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro were able to successfully defend their national title winning pairs.

The 20-year-old Sadovsky, of Vaughan, Ont., showed his bronze medal at the Grand Prix in Japan two months ago was no fluke and he won the men’s event with 260.57 points. He watched both defending champion Nam Nguyen and Olympian Keegan Messing deliver mistake filled programs to take second and third spot at 243.51 and 241.79.

“After my skate I wasn’t sure that would be enough,” said Sadovksy, seventh at last year’s nationals. “I’m just happy it was. Watching Nam and Keegan skate was another sort of stress level because you have no control. It’s not a good feeling. We all sort of struggled but fought well at the end.”

Nguyen saluted the new champion.

“Roman really put it down tonight and really deserves it,” said Nguyen. “He is such a beautiful skater to watch and he’s come a long way to get to this point. For me I can’t put the blame on the pressure. I was in a good zone mentally and physically but after that first mistake it started to unravel.”

Gilles and Poirier, skating to Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now, tabulated 225.62 points for their first career national crown in their eight-season partnership. The Toronto couple also smashed the previous national mark of 213.78 set by Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje last season.

“Going in first into the free dance is something we are not used to, we are usually chasing,” said Poirier. “It was one of those programs we really had to think through. This gives a lot of confidence heading into the last competitions of the season.”

“Getting a Canadian title is something we’ve really worked hard to get,” added Gillies. “It hasn’t come easily. But everything is about timing in life and we’ve finally found what works for us.”

World junior champions Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of St-Hubert, Que., took the silver with 198.92 and Carolane Soucisse of Chateauguay, Que., and Shane Firus were third at 190.29.

“I nearly fell two times but we kept attacking the program and that’s what I was proud of,” said Lagha.

“We were hoping for a good result but not expecting this,” added Lajoie.

Moore-Towers, of St. Catharines, Ont., and  Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., nailed two triple throws on route to top spot at  215.67. Evelyn Walsh of London, Ont., and Trennt Michaud of Brantford, Ont., were second at 196.29 and Lubov Ilyushechkina of Toronto and Charlie Bilodeau of Trois-Pistoles, Que., were third at 186.71.

“My jumps are very solid so this has been a funny couple of days for me,” said Moore-Towers who popped the opening side-by-side jump but both landed the side-by-side triple toe later in the program.

“I was proud of our recovery after that second element, it’s not always easy to do.”

Walsh and Michaud put the pressure on the champs with a powerful skate.

“We went into it as the underdogs,” said Walsh. “We fed off each other for energy and had nothing to lose out there. We worked so well together that it made it a lot easier.”

The teenagers shined in the women’s free skate. Seventeen-year-old Emily Bausback soared from 10th place last year to Canadian champion with 175.54. Alison Schumacher of Tecumseh, Ont., also 17, took the silver at 168.94 and 16-year-old Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., was third at 168.07.

“I’m really glad I trusted my training throughout this whole competition and the entire season so far,” said Bausback, fourth after Friday’s short program. “I worked a lot on my performance skills and projecting to the audience my story.”

Schumacher also made a great comeback after the sixth best score in the short.

“I’m a little surprised because this was quite a strong event,” said Schumacher.

Full results: 2020 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Patricia Andrew of London, Ont., and Zachary Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., took the gold medal in pairs on Thursday at the 2020 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships.

The first-year partners totalled 148.28 points placing first in both programs. Gabrielle Levesque and Pier-Alexandre Hudon of Montreal, third at the last two junior nationals, followed for silver at 140.91 and Kelly-Ann Laurin St-Jérôme, Que., and Loucas Éthier of St-Alphonse, Que., were third at 138.12.

In the last novice final of the competition, Lily Wilberforce and Aidan Wright of Kitchener, Ont., won the pairs competition with 112.88. Ashlyn Schmitz and Tristan Taylor of Shellbrook, Sask., were second at 104.40 and Rafaëlle Nadeau and David Riccio of Ste-Agathe, Que., were third at 86.25.

“We changed our mindset for this competition,” said Wright. “We got rid of the negative and kept positive and skated to the best of our abilities.”

The men’s and women’s junior events concluded on Wednesday night.

Kaiya Ruiter of Calgary took the women’s crown decisively with 174.83 points. Emily Millard of North Vancouver won silver with 143.31 and Kristina Ivanova of Toronto snared the bronze with 142.73.

“It was exciting,” said Ruiter, who learned to skate on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa where she grew up. “I wanted to put on a show. It’s been an incredible journey so far.”

In men’s junior, Corey Circelli of Toronto won the gold medal despite an injury with 203.13 points. Wesley Chiu of Richond, B.C., took the silver at 198.44 and Alec Guinzbourg of Aurora, Ont., took the bronze at 189.42.

“I was in pain,” admitted Circelli. “But my coaches made a thorough plan of what I was going to do. It was really challenging to fit everything into the session.”

Full results: 2020 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships – Skate Canada

OTTAWA, ON: The nation’s best figure skaters are headed to Mississauga, Ont., for the 2020 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. The week-long championships will be held at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre from January 13-19, 2020. The event will feature approximately 250 skaters in the men, women, pairs, ice dance disciplines, competing in three levels: senior, junior and novice.

“We are so excited to be back in Mississauga for the 2020 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships,” said Debra Armstrong, CEO, Skate Canada. “This event always sheds a spotlight on Canada’s brightest skaters and this year will be no different as these athletes continue their pursuit of excellence.”

The all-Canadian competition will begin with the novice and junior events taking place from Monday, January 13, to Thursday, January 16, followed by the senior events beginning on Friday, January 17 to Saturday, January 18, and finishing with an Exhibition Gala on Sunday, January 19. Athletes will vie for spots on the Skate Canada National Team and the Canadian teams that will compete at the 2020 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, 2020 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships and 2020 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

The senior events will be the highlight of the week as Canada’s top skaters will look to build their resume’s. Nam Nguyen, 21, Ajax, Ont., is the reigning national champion in the senior men’s discipline and will be aiming to be on top of the podium again this year in Mississauga. Keegan Messing, 27, Sherwood Park, Alta., will be aiming for the top spot, having finished third at last year’s event.

Aurora Cotop, 17, Thornhill, Ont., will be eyeing another podium finish after winning silver at the 2019 championships. Two-time Canadian champion Gabrielle Daleman, 21, Newmarket, Ont., will be looking to return to the podium  in Mississauga after finishing 5th last year.

Senior ice dancers Piper Gilles, 27, Toronto, Ont., and Paul Poirier, 28, Unionville, Ont., finished second in 2019 and will be eyeing the top of the podium in Mississauga. They will be challenged by  2019 junior national champions and first-time senior ice dancers Marjorie Lajoie, 18, Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha, 20, Saint-Hubert, Que.

Senior pair team Kirsten Moore-Towers, 27, St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro, 27, Sarnia, Ont., will look to repeat as national champions in Mississauga. Also looking for another spot on the podium will be 2019 silver medallists Evelyn Walsh, 18, London, Ont., and Trennt Michaud, 23, Trenton, Ont. New pair team Lubov Ilyushechkina, 28, Toronto, Ont., and Charlie Bilodeau, 26, Trois-Pistoles, Que., will be making their nationals debut as a team.

Other notable national team members that will not be attending are ice dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry, 27, Montreal, Que., and Nikolaj Sørensen, 30, Montreal, Que., pair team Camille Ruest, 26, Rimouski, Que, and Drew Wolfe, 25, Calgary, Alta, and Stephen Gogolev, 14, Toronto, Ont. All athletes had to withdraw due to injury but hope to compete later this season.

The novice and junior categories will display Canada’s up and coming talent as they look to leave their mark at the national level. All novice and junior competition, and select senior events, will be live streamed on the Skate Canada Dailymotion page. For full entries and event start orders, please click here.

Fans will also be able to tune into Facebook Live on the segments called The Inside Edge, which will be hosted by Skate Canada Digital Host Elladj Balde and will feature an assortment of figure skating guests throughout the week. The show will air on the Skate Canada Facebook page and will host a daily pre and post show.

Off the ice, three-time Canadian champion and 2018 world Champion, Kaetlyn Osmond, will be this year’s Athlete Ambassador. During the event, Osmond will handle speaking engagements, media interviews, make appearances on behalf of the competing athletes and interact with fans.

On Sunday, January 19, Skate Canada will celebrate the achievements of the skating community and will be inducting two new members into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place before the exhibition gala and will see Olympian and six-time Canadian champion Jennifer Robinson and renowned figure skating journalist Steve Milton both officially enter the hall.

Tickets for Thursday’s senior practice are $16.00 ($10 ticket + $6 venue fee) and includes novice pairs free and junior pairs free. Single session tickets for seniors begin on Friday at $38.65 ($30 tickets + $8.65 venue fee) and pricing varies by session and seating level. Ticket prices for the novice and junior competition fall earlier in the week and are $28.35 per day ($20 ticket +$8.35 venue fee). Tickets can be purchased online, by phone at 905-615-3200 x2814 or in person at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre Box Office.

Having previously hosted the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in 2013, this will be the second time that Mississauga will welcome Canada’s best skaters. The city has also hosted four Skate Canada International competitions (2000, 2003, 2011, 2016) and the 2017 World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships.