Nine local skaters qualify for Pacific StarSkate
competition in March
A hectic weekend at the Beaver Valley Arena has yielded yet another regional award for the local figure skating club.
The Kootenay Regional Championships wrapped up on Sunday and for the ninth consecutive year the Beaver Valley Figure Skating Club captured the Barclay Team Trophy.
Points are awarded to each club based on first, second or third-place finishes by a club’s skaters. And with over 120 skaters competing in 39 events, the scope of the local club’s success was wide and varied.
Beaver Valley club vice-president Shelley Verhelst explained the scoring system in the freeskate programs was the same used at the Olympic and world championship level.
“With this scoring system it is not always about getting to the podium but improving on a skater’s past scores and rewarding all skaters for having a good day.”
The event also served as a qualifying event for the Pacific StarSkate competition, which will be held in Cranbrook in Mach. That event will feature the top skaters from five qualifying events held in B.C. and the Yukon.
Thanks to their overall team success, several members of the Beaver Valley club will be competing in Cranbrook.
The skaters and their disciplines are; Serena Deadmarsh (Senior Bronze freeskate and Open Pairs); Cassidy Favaro (Senior Silver freeskate, Gold Interpretive); Madison Favaro (Junior Silver freeskate, Silver Interpretive, Open Pairs); Alyssa Hunt (Junior Bronze freeskate, Bronze Interpretive); Larissa Verhelst (Junior Silver freeskate, Gold Interpretive); Robert Verhelst (Senior Bronze freeskate, Bronze Interpretive, Open Pairs); Jacob Verhelst (Senior Bronze freeskate, Bronze Interpretive, Open Pairs); Taryn Verhelst (Junior Bronze freeskate); and Mackenzie Watts (Junior Bronze freeskate).
As well as the Barclay Team Trophy, several other major awards were handed out.
Deadmarsh was awarded the Coach’s Junior Artistic Award for her interpretation of music in Senior Bronze, Pre-Juvenile or Juvenile freeskate divisions.
Madison Favaro was awarded the Coach’s Senior Artistic Award for her performance in the Junior Silver, Senior Silver, Pre-Novice, Novice, Gold or Gold Triathlon freeskate categories.
Abby-Anne Hughes of the Sparwood club captured the Ferraro Foods Award as the gold medal winner in the Preliminary Ladies 10-and-under as well as the Sharelene Sugihara Award for her music interpretation in Preliminary freeskate.
Emma Moran of Fernie was presented with the Rolf Benner Award for her artistic interpretation in the Junior Bronze freeskate.
Rounding out the top awards was the Most Sportsmanlike Trophy presented to the Columbia Valley club from Invermere.