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Figure skaters carve out personal bests

Figure skating coach simply wanted personal best performances and skaters delivered
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KEARA ANUTOOSHKIN of the Glengarry Figure Skating Club earned a second-place result in the Star 5 13 and over during the Okanagan Regional Championship at Memorial Arena during the weekend.

Glengarry Figure skaters had their best performances of the season in the Okanagan Regional Championships.

The club hosted the event at Memorial Arena Friday to Sunday and coaches Trevor Buttenham and Shirley McNally watched as a handful of skaters had personal best finishes.

Achieving personal bests were Jordana McEachern scoring 16.95 taking second in the Star 5 under-13, Nadia Snyman 17.55 for first in Star 5, Meagan Pankratz, 21.33 for third in senior bronze ladies, Sabrina Fortunato 13.66 in Star 5, Samantha McNally in gold assessment in Star 3.

In Star 2, Joycey Cheng had a personal best gold assessment, as did Amy Slater.

Buttenham said competing at home helped the skaters. The main thing he wanted the skaters to accomplish was personal bests as he said it’s all about the numbers.

“It’s hard to determine with the little ones,” he said. “This is a sport of very small steps many times.  We’re always looking for that personal best.”

The skater who surprised Buttenham most was Lorreine Stanley in the junior silver ladies. The championship was the first time he saw Stanley compete.

“She really came alive,” he said. “She’s a bubbly kid, happy-go-lucky. She really opened up on the ice. I feel like she’s really trying to connect with the audience and the judges. It was nice to see.”

Angelina Veltri finished third in Star 4 13 and over. In Star 2 Sara Slater earned a silver assessment, while Chloe Robert earned bronze assessment in her first competition. Snyman also scored 23.42 for first in intro interpretive, while McNally was second in level one elements.

Also competing for the first time was Keara Anutooshkin, who broke her ankle during early season training. Going through the healing process was tough because she missed skating.

“It really motivates me to do better and practice harder,” she said. “It was hard to get back in. You can’t do everything that you want, you have to do it slowly. You want to go out there and do everything that you usually do but, you can’t. You have to limit yourself. That was difficult.”

Anutooshkin said she didn’t have any goals set since it was her season debut.

“The first event was pretty nerve wracking,” she said. “As you get to the second one it becomes more fun.

“I’m pretty proud of myself for getting second place (in Star 4, 13 and over),” she said.