Joey Payeur
The Border Skating Club participants stepped gracefully, soared mightily, and won plenty.
And those weren’t even the biggest highlights of the event for them.
The 14-member contingent garnered 40 medals during the Thunder Bay Open on March 3-5, which was their last competition of the season.
But the thrill of that success paled in comparison to the one they experienced midway through their stay.
Elvis Stojko of Richmond Hill, a three-time world champion and two-time Canadian Olympic silver-medalist, held a training session for an afternoon that few of the skaters–or their coaches–will ever forget.
“It’s a very surreal feeling meeting someone who’s had some many great accomplishments in their career, let alone stepping on the ice with them,” enthused local coach Alexa Wideman.
“He was very down to earth, and had so many great tips for our skaters and us as coaches,” she added.
“The skaters who were able to attend the seminar took away new skills, and some even improved on their technique to land their jumps they’ve been working on and enhance their spins.
“I am not participating with the ice show this year [being pregnant with her second child] but I know our other coaches are working away at planning to put on a great show,” Wideman noted, referring to the annual gala coming up April 8-9 at the Ice For Kids Arena.
Meanwhile, she was more than pleased with how her skaters came through under pressure.
“All of our skaters did great, whether it was testing, competing, or both,” she lauded.
“We have an amazing group of skaters who strive every time they get on the ice to do their best and it showed [that] weekend.”
Wideman said the mental progress of the club’s skaters made a huge developmental leap this season, with their comfort level literally growing day by day.
“Our skaters have done very well this year,” she enthused.
“We have two skaters [Greta Fedoruk and Montana Plasky] who are going to Skate Ontarios [in Port Colborne from March 17-19] that placed first in their events at the ‘Festival of Stars'” help recently in Sault Ste. Marie, Wideman noted.
“This is a huge accomplishment for our skaters.”
Here is the complete list of competition and test results for the Border skaters from the Thunder Bay Open:
Montana Plasky
•Competition: gold (Star 7/8 team), gold (Star 5 under-13 freeskate), gold (creative improv 3), and bronze (Star 6 elements); and
•Testing: junior silver elements, paso (dance)
Greta Fedoruk
•Competition: gold (Star 7/8 team and Star 9/10 Elements) and gold (Star 8 freeskate with season best score of 30.75); and
•Testing: gold freeskate
Reece McNeil
•Competition: gold (Star 5 team), gold (Star 5 freeskate), and silver (Star 5 elements)
Samantha Halliday
•Competition: gold (Star 5 team), gold (Star 6 elements), gold (Star 5 under-13 freeskate), and gold (creative improv); and
•Testing: senior bronze skills
Awnley Jacobsen
•Competition: silver (Star 4 team), gold (Star 4 freeskate), and gold (Star 4 elements); and
•Testing: rocker foxtrot (dance)
Abrianna Hasbargen
•Competition: silver (Star 4 team), gold (creative improv 2), silver (Star 4 freeskate), and silver (Star 4 elements); and
•Testing: ten-fox, fourteen-step, European (dances)
Brooklin Hayes
•Competition: fourth (Star 4 team), gold (creative improv), silver (Star 3 freeskate), and silver (Star 3 elements); and
•Testing: senior bronze skills, European (dance)
Jenna Bailey
•Competition: fourth (Star 4 team), silver (Star 4 freeskate), bronze (Star 4 elements); and
•Testing: junior silver skills, foxtrot (dance)
Mya Scott-Thompson
•Competition: silver (Star 3 team), gold (Star 3 freeskate), gold (Star 3 elements), and bronze (creative improv 1); and
•Testing: ten-fox, European (dances)
Hallee Nugent
•Competition: silver (Star 3 team), gold (Star 3 freeskate), silver (Star 3 elements), and silver (introductory interpretive)
Jillian Bilben
•Competition: silver (Star 3 team), gold (Star 3 elements), and gold (Star 3 freeskate)
Serena Cousineau
•Competition: silver (Star 3 team), gold (Star 3 freeskate), gold (creative improv 1), and silver (Star 3 elements)
Ellie Jacobsen
•Competition: bronze (Star 2 team) and gold (Star 1 assessment)
Peyton Jourdain
•Competition: bronze (Star 2 team), silver (Star 1 event), and silver (creative improv 1)
