±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą wins double bronze at OUA championships
By Earl Zukerman
TORONTO – Freshman Catherine De Vries of Burlington, Ont., and the
duo of Sarah Falk and Alexa Gavaga came away with bronze medal
finishes for ±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą at the 2009 OUA figure skating championships,
held at Varsity Arena, Feb. 18-19.
De Vries, an arts major, was third in open solo dance. Falk, a
freshman from Vancouver, B.C., and Gavago, a sophomore from Anola,
Man., teamed up to reach the podium in the intermediate similar
pairs.
Guelph dethroned the defending champions from the University of
Western Ontario to capture the league title with 93 points. Queen’s
was second with 87, followed by Western (64), Toronto (50),
Waterloo (39), Laurier (40), Ryerson (35) and ±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą (45).
“Although we did not succeed as much as we would have liked there
were some major accomplishments,” said Ciara Ball, co-president of
the ±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą club. “The biggest one being the sixth-place finish in
the synchronized skating, an event in which ±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą has
traditionally been in last place. After all the hard work and
dedication put in by the team, it was a major accomplishment for
us.”
Other ±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą results included Lee Freiburger, who was fifth in the
men’s open skate category, Teresa Miletti was seventh in the ladies
gold skate and Marita Winslade was seventh in the senior silver
skate,
In the junior silver similar dance, Falk teamed up with Nina
Mikalachki to place sixth. In the senior silver similar dance, the
duo of Winslade and Kelly Graham were seventh.
±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą also posted eighth-place finishes in the pairs four
(Miletti, Haley Ellis, Geneviève Rougeau, Caitlin Singleton), the
senior similar pairs (Rougeau and Ball), the Starskate gold
creative dance (De Vries and Jill Barbano) and in the bronze rhythm
dance fours (Ball, Barbano, Winslade and Kelly-Marie Graham).
The final event of the season is the annual ±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą figure-skating
showcase, scheduled for March 14 at McConnell Arena.
The Gryphons led from start to finish in the two-day event,
capturing only the OUA team title for the first time since
1993-94.
Guelph’s all-star trio of Ariel Porty (Guelph, Ont.), Sandra
McCubbin (Barrie, Ont.) and Laura Barbison (Brampton, Ont.) led the
way. Porty was golden in the open solo dance and partnered with
Barbison to capture a second gold in the senior silver similar
dance category. Barbison, Porty, McCubbin and Caitlin McCann
(Barrie, Ont.) again stood atop the podium in the bronze rhythm
dance fours.
McCubbin claimed a second gold in the senior silver solo dance as
did teammate Charlotte Drewett (Cambridge, Ont.) in the senior
silver ladies event.
Rhonda McKnight of Queen’s, who guided her squad to a surprising
second-place finish, was named OUA coach of the year.
2008-09 OUA ALL-STARS
Laura Barbison – Guelph
Annie-Claire Bergeron-Oliver – Toronto
Alitsha Burden – Laurier
Martha Carruthers – Queen’s
Charlotte Drewett – Guelph
Sarah Farrow – Queen’s
Katie Finerty – Queen’s
Veronica Hall – Toronto
Stacey Henderson – Toronto
Caitlin McCann – Guelph
Sandra McCubbin – Guelph
Caroline Myzyk – Waterloo
Ariel Porty – Guelph
Cathryn Schroeder – Queen’s
Lydia Schultz – Toronto
Emily Young – Queen’s
Janel Young – Queen’s
OUA Coach of the Year
Rhonda McKnight – Queen’s
OUA Spirit Award
Toronto
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Guelph 93 pts
2. Queen’s 87
3. Western 64
4. Toronto 50
5. Waterloo 39
6. Laurier 40
7. Ryerson 35
8. ±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą 15