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Penticton figure skater glides to perfect score at competition in West Kelowna

16-year-old Deepika Gill was joined by other Penticton skaters in capturing first-place finishes
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Figure skater Deepika Gill, who earned a perfect score at the 2022 Okanagan Interclub Competition in West Kelowna last week, was one of 25 skaters from Penticton sent to the competition. (Submitted)

It was a perfect weekend on the ice for Penticton’s Deepika Gill, who glided her way to a first-place finish at a figure skating competition in West Kelowna.

The 16-year-old figure skater was one of 25 athletes to represent the Peach City at the 2022 Okanagan Interclub Competition from Nov. 25 to 27, and earned a perfect score in the “Star 5 Elements Event” against seven other figure skaters from across the Interior.

“Deepika is one of our leaders at the club, so it’s really nice to see this happen for her,” said Trevor Buttenham, the head coach at Penticton’s Glengarry Skating Club. “She was focused, had a great skate and earned herself four gold assessments on her scorecard, which is a perfect score.”

Gill’s performance on the ice was one of many bright spots for the Penticton-based club last weekend. Of the 38 events that featured local skaters, 26 resulted in new personal bests from Glengarry SC athletes.

The other individual highlights on the ice for Penticton was the performance from Genevieve Lobb, who won a gold medal in the “Star 2 Element Event.”

Skaters from the Glengarry SC combined to capture 10 gold, 11 silver and three bronze medals.

Last weekend’s event also marked the debuts for a trio of local “Star 1 Skaters,” who attended their first-ever Skate Canada-sanctioned competitions.

“They were very well put together and handled the environment like pros,” Buttenham said.

The head coach adds that skaters from the club have now shifted their focus to the upcoming Okanagan championships, set to take place in January.

Along with Gill and Lobb, Penticton-based skaters Peyton Ferguson, Sofia Pango, Adele Kaminski, Avaline Gibson, Ella-Rae Howells and Rina Sugata walked away with either a first-place finish or gold medal in their respective categories in West Kelowna.

Other Penticton skaters with notable showings at the 2022 Interclub Competition include:

• Noa Kan (3rd place in the Juvenile Women category)

• Micah Rodrigues (6th placed in Star 7/8 Elements Event)

• Kaitlyn Pittendreigh (3rd place in the Pre-Juvenile Women category)

• Yuzuki Onishi (4th place in the Pre-Juvenile Women category)

• Molly Mitchell (2nd place in the Star 7/8 Elements Events)

• Vivian Kanazawa (2nd place in the Star 7/8 Elements Events)

• Lily Wicks (3rd place in the Star 5 Women U13)

• Grace Hibbard (2nd place in Stars 4 in Group No. 1 of Girls U13)

• Claire Callahan (5th place Stars 4 in Group No. 2 of Girls U13)

• Charlotte Wicks (Silver medalist in Star 3)

• Ava Vassilakaki (Silver medalist in Star 3)

• Beatrix Isaksen (Silver medalist in Star 3)

• Aiden Nguyen (Silver medalist in Star 2)

• Julie Hazzard (Silver medalist in Star 2)

• Curtis Carrigan (Silver medalist in Star 1)

READ MORE: Penticton figure skater shines with a podium finish at provincials in Coquitlam


@lgllockhart
logan.lockhart@pentictonwesternnews.com