Connaught Skating showcased its depth of talent by collecting plenty of hardware at the B.C. Yukon Sectional Championships in Kelowna.
The Richmond club produced a whopping 31 top 10 finishes, that included five provincial champions and 15 medals. Four more skaters captured artistic awards and 10 were named to Team B.C. for the upcoming 2020 Skate Canada Challenge in Edmonton — Nov. 27-Dec. 1.
It all added up to Connaught sharing top honours for the B.C. Section Club Trophy.
Leah Lee and Wesley Chiu swept the women and men’s titles respectively in the Junior Division. Lee also earned artistic honours
The club also captured gold in Pre-Novice (Jessie Sun/Victor Lum) and Pre-Juvenile Pairs (Hailey Pang/Stephen Lee).
Rounding out the first place finishes was a big week for Neo Tran, who not only won the Pre-Novice Men’s Division but skated away with artistic honours too. He also earned the runner-up haward for the B.C. Yukon Series of competitions.
Now he heads to Edmonton with plenty of momentum for his second appearance at Skate Challenge.
“I learned from my mistakes last year,” said the 12-year-old from Richmond who has been skating for six years. “Once (the skate) is over let it be gone. Don’t carry it with you. Don’t carry the weight of it.
“It’s just a matter of performing what I am capable of and do what I have been told to do.”
Others named to the B.C. team include David Li who was second in Novice Men and also captured artistic honours. Pre-Novice competitors Rebecca Mah, Ellie Cheung and Tehran Lee round out the contingent heading to Alberta next week.
Rounding out the artistic award winners was Yolanda Yue Tan in U14 Juvenile Ladies.
Here’s a complete rundown of the Connaught results at Sectionals
Junior Ladies
Leah Lee (gold). Caitlin Tai (7th).
Junior Men
Wesley Chiu (gold). Victor Lum (5th).
Novice Ladies
Maho Harada (5th). Isabella Arney (10th).
Novice Men
David Li (silver).
Pre-Novice Ladies
Rebecca Mah(5th), Ellie Cheung (6th), Anya Li (10th), Alexa Christianson (17th), Kiana Atash (19th), Maisie St. James (21st), Bianca Gasparetto (23rd), Emily Leung (28th), Ciara Iorio (33rd).
Pre-Novice Men
Neo Tran (gold). Tehryn Lee (bronze).
Pre-Novice Pairs
Jessie Sun/Victor Lum (gold).
Juvenile Ladies U12
Jessie Sun (10th), Jaelyn Woo (11th), Danielle Ting (18th), Kirsten Tiongson (22nd), Ivanna Tung (23rd).
Juvenile Ladies U14
Yolanda Yue Tan (silver), Ami Wong 6th), Shannon Chan (18th).
Juvenile Men
Louie Fukuda-Wu (2nd), William Chan (3rd).
Pre-Juvenile Ladies U11 Gr. 1
Kaeli Woo (silver), Liya Pan (6th), Angela Lin (9th), Caitlin Jiang (11th), Hailey Pang (13th), Mickey Luo (15th).
Pre-Juvenile Ladies Gr. 2
Esther Ting (silver), Stephy Tong (bronze), Jace Wong (4th), Hera Chan (10th), Jasmine Guan (11th).
Pre-Juvenile Men U12
Stephen Lee (silver), Sora Murakami (7th), Carson Chow (8th).
Pre-Juvenile Pairs
1. Hailey Pang/Stephen Lee (gold), Eliana Liu/Duncan Zhang (silver).
