U of T’s figure skating team captured the bronze medal at the OUA championships for the second year in a row. The Blues had an impressive showing, winning three gold, three silver and two bronze in addition to theoverall team medal. Taking place at the Gemini Ice Complex near London, the battle for gold was a rat race between Toronto, Queens and Western.
The scoreboard saw each team move in and out of first place over the course of the competition and it seemed an OUA championship was within reach for Toronto. But the Western Mustangs pulled ahead to claim the gold and Queen’s Golden Gaels took the silver.The weekend was saw memorable performances, most notably from team captain Jennifer Leek. Leek opened up the event with a convincing win in the senior bronze freeskate category, earning first place ordinals across the board.She then teamed up with Alyssa Hall to capture gold again in intermediate similar pairs.
In her final year of school, Leek has left a lasting impression on the OUA skating circuit; this year alone she has won gold medals in all but one of the freeskate events she entered. Helping add to the medal haul was physicaleducation student Candace Skelton. Competing in the Short Program, Skelton skated with unmatched speed and poise to win her first OUA gold.
The dance team of Miyoko Ohtake and Laura Milne finished second overall in the senior silver similar dance category. Ohtake, a former national team member, also competed in the pairs four category with Erin Hyland, Candace Skelton and Annamari Makela, to win bronze. In the dance variation competition, LaraFenton, Alyssa Hall, Laura Milne and Ellen Simone finished second. Rounding out the eight medals were Erin Hyland and Eleanor Fung winning bronze in the senior pairs freeskate and Hyland winning another silver in senior silver freeskate.
In the synchronized skating portion, the Blues placed fifth with a technically difficult program set to music from The Matrix and choreographed by Miranda and Alyssa Hall. Although they did not win the overall title, the Blues had animpressive showing with 13 top five finishes in 15 categories (not bad considering the team is made up of 11 rookies, all from different skating backgrounds).
Figure skating is a cruel sport. If a skater messes up, she does so alone in front of hundreds of other spectators. A skater’s expectations as well as the hopes of her coaches and, in this case teammates, rests on a pairof steel blades 1/8th of an inch wide. This year’s squad has been able to turn the pressure of competing into a rally point. As the school year draws to a close, U of T should be proud of an amazing season which included two overall team bronze medals and one silver. With so much fresh talent returning next year, the figure skating team is expecting great things in upcoming seasons.
