Valley skating clubs off to provincials, nationals
Coming off gold and bronze medal performances at the Atlantic championships, three Valley synchronized skating clubs will compete at provincials Feb. 28 in Liverpool, while a fourth club is off to nationals.
Two teams from the Kentville Silver Gliders skating club dominated their categories at the Atlantic championships Jan. 30-31 in Riverview, N.B. and captured gold medals.
Revolution One, coached by Ann Young, skated in the beginner one division, the largest division at the event.
“The team has worked so hard this year, and they earned this victory,” Young said.
“I’ve been coaching synchro for a long time, and I never tire of the excitement in the moment when the skaters take their opening stance and the music begins. The kids are totally focused on each other and getting the job done. It’s like watching magic.”
Revolution Two, the other Kentville team, coached by twin sisters Lacey and Ashley Walkinshaw, also achieved a gold medal at Atlantics with a score of 18.84 in their first skate. The score was a team best, and one of the top scores in Canada so far this synchro season in the elementary free skate category. This was the second gold medal of the season for Revolution Two, following up on their performance at the Friendship Skate on P.E.I. in January.
The Riverview Skating Club of Newport, Hants County entered three teams in the beginner one, elementary and junior divisions at Atlantics, with the juvenile team winning the bronze medal.
Axe-Elles heading to nationals
The Axe-Elles team, skating out of Acadia, have qualified, for a second straight year, for the national championships taking place Feb. 27– March 1 in Quebec City.
Jessica Lake-Crossley, an Acadia student and Axe-Elles team member, said that defeating the team from Riverview, N.B. was a great victory.
“We lost several skaters after last year because they graduated,”she said. “With the addition of several new teammates, we only had a short time to get the team to the level we wanted to be to get to nationals. The hours of on and off-ice practice paid off. We can’t wait to get to Quebec.”