![\"2012-1114-1\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/2012-1114-1.jpg?resize=287%2C325&ssl=1\")
Virtue & Moir Easily Secure Second Gold<\/strong><\/span>As expected, Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir (pictured, right) won their second gold medal of the Grand Prix at Rostelecom Cup, increasing their Skate Canada score by a few points to end up with 173.99 points. They fared much better in the short dance<\/b><\/a> with a different lift (called level 4) and a level 3 midline sequence. The Yankee Polka still has room for improvement, as they earned level 2 and level 3, but no one is putting down level 4 sequences consistently, so it isn\u2019t like they are falling behind the curve. I was glad to see some technical improvements, even if they had to abandon their new lift.<\/p>\n
In the free dance<\/b><\/a>, their mark actually went down a smidge from Skate Canada, landing at 103.44. Their lifts, spin, and twizzles were all level 4, and their circular steps were level 3, but their diagonals steps remained level 2. In fact, all of their levels were identical to the Skate Canada outing, with GOE contributing to a slightly lower technical mark this week. I thought that the performance was stronger than the d\u00e9but, overall, as it should be. In Skate Canada, I noticed a few signs of weakness, particularly towards the end. I think they\u2019re still looking a little more sluggish in the final minute, but that\u2019s fine for this point in the season. I was pleased that the second outing of this free dance was, for me, just as exciting and captivating. <\/span><\/p>\n Nicole Orford & Thomas Williams made their Grand Prix d\u00e9but in Moscow, finishing eighth with a total of 124.96 points. Aside from a mistake in their free dance, they performed well and handled the big stage like pros. I thought that their short dance<\/b><\/a>, in particular, was terrific. They earned level 3 on both Yankee Polka sequences, better than most of the teams on the roster, their twizzles and lift were level 4, and their midline steps were level 2. They still have room to improve the program and make it more polished, of course, but their energy level was sky-high and I just loved watching them skate this dance. I didn\u2019t think that their free dance<\/b><\/a> was quite as strong\u2014they don\u2019t seem to connect to the program quite as easily, and the structure of the music cuts seems to push and pull, instead of building momentum. They have a couple of opportunities for tweaks, including a level 3 spin that can be pushed to level 4, and level 1 diagonal steps, which was where they had the stumble. The twizzles looked great though, and their PCS went up, compared to the short dance (even though the SD was the better skate), which is usually a sign that the judges liked what they saw in the SD. They have another chance to impress at NHK Trophy in a week.<\/span><\/p>\n Gilles & Poirier in Paris On another note, Gilles & Poirier unveiled an official website<\/b><\/a> this week. I am looking forward to hearing from them on this platform, especially if they really keep it updated as often as they say that they\u2019re going to.<\/span><\/p>\n This makes Gilles & Poirier the fourth team in Canada (that I know of!) to have an official website. Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje<\/b><\/a>, Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir<\/b><\/a>, and Melinda Meng & Andrew Meng<\/b><\/a> also have sites.. I think that official websites are a great way to expand a fan base and to show off all of the hard work that you put into you\u2019re skating, so if you skate at the junior or senior level and would like more information about starting a website, feel free to ask me about it<\/b><\/a>. For those that aren\u2019t aware, we host a wide variety of official sites at IDC. They are mostly from the U.S. and Great Britain, but I\u2019d love to see more Canadians join us!<\/span><\/p>\n British Columbia\/Yukon sectionals<\/b><\/a> were held in Parksville, BC. Only seven dance teams competed across the levels, which worries me just a little bit. BC has exploded onto the dance scene in the past few years, but even accounting for a couple of byes at the junior and senior levels, I think that their numbers are down a bit from last year. They did not have any juvenile teams compete, as compared to the huge juvenile rosters in a couple of the Ontario sections.<\/span><\/p>\n Caelen Dalmer & Shane Firus (pictured, left) have a bye to Challenge, but chose to compete at sectionals anyway. They easily won the junior level with a season\u2019s best score of 121.30. The JGP competitors had solid performances and appear to be building well towards Challenge. Jessica Jiang & Eric Streichsbier finished second with 94.30 points in their competitive d\u00e9but. They have been skating together since August.<\/span><\/p>\n Danielle Wu & Spencer Soo won the novice level, as I expected, with a score of 83.91. They were actually second in the free dance, due to some level downgrades, but an outstanding Blues in the first segment of the competition had put them out of reach. Their training mates, Alexa Linden & Tyler Miller, won the silver medal, scoring 78.35 points. Their free dance was particularly strong, but the pattern dances are an opportunity for improvement for this first-year partnership. Still, they are clearly doing very well, increasing their season\u2019s best score by over 12 points since BC Summer Skate. Andie-Lynn Gingrich & Liam Kinrade won the bronze medal in their second year together, earning 66.77 points. I had expected to see Brianna Delmaestro & Graeme Gordon at this competition, but they did not compete. Gordon competed in senior men, though, so I am wondering if Delmaestro has been injured. I hope to see them back on the roster at Challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n At the pre-novice level, the new sectional champions are Olga Kubliy & Thomas Bogdanov, who improved from a fourth-place finish last year. They earned 51.65 points, and I believe that this was their first competition of the season. Two teams that moved up from juvenile rounded out the podium. Karlissa Lem & Le Vu were second with 45.44 points and Ravie Cunningham & Cedar Bridgewood were third with 44.00 points.<\/span><\/p>\n In Western Ontario<\/b><\/a>, the rosters were thin at the levels heading to Challenge, but they have a lot of dancers in the pipeline, with seven teams at the juvenile level and six at the pre-juvenile level.<\/p>\n Jade Marrow & Benjamin Mulder were the only junior team, and they earned a total of 95.90 points. Likewise, only one team competed at the novice level. Ekaterina Fedyushchenko & Jean-Luc Jackson scored 67.95 points.<\/span><\/p>\n Laura Emery & Dean Holbrough won the pre-novice level with 53.48 points over Nicole Suszek & Matthew Korkoian. Suszek & Korkoian were leading after the pattern dances and scored 50.04 points.<\/span><\/p>\n Paige Nobbs & Andrew McDonald won the juvenile level and Angela Ling & Everest Zhu are the pre-juvenile champions.<\/span><\/p>\n Vanessa Chartrand & Christian Reekie (pictured, right) won the novice level with a score of 57.60. The new team of Abby Savoie & Tanner White stayed close behind them, ending up with 55.75 points and the silver medal. Emily Allen & Jake Richardson were third with 52.91 points.<\/span><\/p>\n Emily Pike & Andrew Wildey and Talia Rancourt & Alex Gunther competed at the pre-novice level, but results were only uploaded for the second pattern dance, which Pike & Wildey won by a narrow margin. I don\u2019t know how the competition ended.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/span>Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier are in the Paris this week to compete at Troph\u00e9e Eric Bompard, their first international event outside of North America. They will face most of the same teams that they saw at Skate Canada, so it will be interesting to see if they can maintain their fourth-place ranking. Beyond the usual new-team problems of lines and unison, they saw their free dance levels decrease, overall, between the U.S. International Classic and Skate Canada, so I\u2019m sure that they have been working hard at addressing those issues. I hope that they will skate well, engage the crowd, and get those levels back up. And have a bit of free time to enjoy the delightful French bakeries, of course.<\/p>\n![\"2012-1114-2\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/2012-1114-2.jpg?resize=254%2C325&ssl=1\")
Final Weekend of Sectionals
<\/b><\/span>It\u2019s hard to believe that sectionals have wrapped up already. Last week didn\u2019t have any big fields, but some of the Nationals frontrunners did compete.<\/p>\n![\"2012-1114-3\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/2012-1114-3.jpg?resize=250%2C325&ssl=1\")
In Eastern Ontario<\/b><\/a>, Samantha Glavine & Jeff Hough were the only team to compete, earning 92.55 points. Oddly enough, their rotational lift was only called level 1 in both programs, and they were hit with an illegal element deduction (two points) in each program. I\u2019m not sure if the two issues were related, or not. Either way, it\u2019s probably good that they chose to compete, despite the thin roster, so that they can address those problems before Challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n