• Saturday's competitions
• Sunday's competitions

Saturday's Competition

We arrived in Sherbrooke in time to watch Senior Original Dance practice. Only two teams are competing, Marjolaine Mineau/Dana Grant and Josee Piche/Pascal Denis. Mineau/Grant have a Strauss-like waltz and Piche/Denis are using La Traviata with vocals.

Next up was Senior Ladies practice. I did not know quite alot of the skaters. Ones I knew from Nationals were Annie Bellemare, who was working with Stephane Yvars, Nadine Gosselin, and Caroline Masse, who is working with Jean-Michel Bombardier. I was impressed with the improvements that Masse has made since last year, I thought she was skating much faster and with more power and height in her jumps. Bellemare seemed as inconsistent as when I saw her over the summer. When she was on, she was great, but her falls were pretty spectacular. I also recalled Martine Dagenais from Minto Summer Skate. She is still leaning forward on a very bent knee on her lutz take-off and, not suprisingly, not getting the full rotation. I noticed that Josée Normand had two students (just one of them in the photo here) in Senior Ladies but I didn't know either of them.

There are only three senior men here this year. As well as Jayson, there is Simon LaRochelle, who also trains with Josée, and Yvan Desjardins. With only three, all of them go on to Divisionals so I think some of the pressure was off. I had seen Desjardins at Nationals in 97 and thought he showed some promise but he didn't make it to Nationals in 98. He has a nice short program to Hava Negela (just like Plushenkco) and is still an enjoyable skater to watch. He doesn't seem to have gained a triple axel since I last saw him and is doing the double axel option in the short program. Both Jayson and Simon seemed very relaxed. At one point they were both setting up to to do a jump and they started doing back crossovers in unision and headed down the ice to perfectly timed side by side triple flips! It got a big round of applause. It looked to me like there were some new steps in Jayson's serpentine footwork, he spent some time working on it and then quite some time on the triple lutz-triple loop, which was eluding him. I also saw him do a few triple toe-triple toes, which were new to me, but I guess it was just an exercise because it was back to the lutz-loop. Unfortunately, the music was played after a very brief warm up and none of them ran complete programs so it was hard to see the elements. Simon had some very weird space music, the kind that used to play in all the intro astronomy films made in the 50s that we used to watch in college.

Finally the pairs. Junior pairs was first and it was nice to see Kerridawn Thompson and Rob Davison. Some people might recall that Rob was on the skater-l list some time ago. He and his partner moved from Calgary to Montreal to train and it seems to have done them good. I thought the pairs elements were really strong and they both jump clockwise so they earn a special place in my list of skaters! They were having some trouble with the sbs double axels but got a few working eventually. The other junior pairs were all creditable but Poirier-Saykaly/Provost stood out for their huge size difference. He must be at least 2 feet taller than her. I think it is just too big a difference to compensate for, though both are trying. The had a great deal of trouble in the spirals, which have alot of pull throughs, they kept missing grips and he bumped her head with his foot a few times. Eventually they got it but it made we wonder how young a team they are. I know she won novice last year but with a different partner.

There are only 3 senior pairs, Jaime Sale and David Pelletier are not here. The team to beat on practice was Caroline Massé and David Anneca. The pairs elements were very strong for a young team and they both had good side by side elements. Once again, they are being coached by Jean-Michel Bombardier. The junior champs, LaChapelle and Blanchet look great until they try the side by side jumps. They take so much speed into all the other elements and sbs spins are quite good but they slow down alot into the triple toes and usually have a problem with them. Finally, Anabelle Langlois and Patrice Archetto seem quite improved. She was the poor little one who crashed into the boards after falling on a throw in Hamilton and had the great misfortune to land right beneath the photographers. However, she does seem recovered from that, they have a very high double twist and they were landing the sbs triple toes.

Finally the competition started. It was many flights of pre-novice ladies in the long program. I didn't take notes but the rule of the day seemed to be 'land a double axel.' The winner landed two and fell on a triple sal. She also had good speed and really attacked her program.

Junior Original Dance: There was a very clear difference bewteen the top teams and the others. The top teams really flowed from one move to another and had lots of complex steps. The lower teams were slower or went faster by having easier steps and tended to collide with each other. Francouer/Kirisci were in first.

Senior Original Dance: Here I also thought that there was a clear difference bewteen the two teams. Mineau/Grant had fairly complex footwork but were slow and often a bit clunky in the lifts. Piche/Denis were faster and had more of a waltz lilt in their skating but also had a few clumsy moments in lifts. Piche/Denis won the OD and are in first, also winning both compulsory dances.

Senior Ladies Short: It seems Skate Canada was fairly unique in being a mostly cleanly skated ladies event. This one was not. Anne Groleau pulled out for reasons I didn't hear. The rest in order:

• Jennifer Plourde - She started with a double axel that was more across than up. Rather poor layback. Single flip. Flying camel with good position. Combination spin with average positions. 3 toe out of steps. Speed good but not at Senior Level
• Nadine Gosselin - some soft music that simply did not suit her power. Layback was fast but position only okay. Spirals show good extension. Fall on 3 lutz. Spin out on 3 sal. Very good death drop. Just held on to 2 axel. Combo spin fast and well centered.
• Sylvie Laviguer - This was the first of Josee Normand's students. She started with the combo spin with esp. good sit positions. The 2 axel had a poor air position but she landed it. Underotated the 3 sal and fell. Layback average. Only 2 1/2 rotations on the toe and two foot and step out. Flying camel position fine. Overall, she just lacked alot of power and speed.
• Nadia Levesque - She started with a double axel but the rotation was a touch delayed and she ended up slightly two footing. A layback. Fall on 3 loop, combo spin with a cannonball, the Natalie Kreig spin (holding leg out with torso bent over) and an arabesque position. Hard fall on a 3 toe, got up and did the 2 toe. death drop didn't have much height.
• Annie Bellemare - Spirals were very good with good speed but then she did 2 lutz -2 toe combo. Flying camel had good position. A very good 3 toe out of footwork. Layback fast but position only okay. A scrapey entrance but clean double axel. Combo spin positions okay.
• Aemelie Sabatier - This is the other Josee student. My, she seems pretty busy! Aemelie started with a good double axel. Nice layback. 3 loop (slightly 2 footed) - 2 toe. Combo spin had good positions. Only a 2 toe! This was a shame as she was doing a nice job. A flying camel to that Josee Chinouard layover position.
• Caroline Massé - Unfortunately, Caroline was skating to Ice Castles, which I find to be so awful it's hard to concentrate on the program. She started with a clean and easy 3 loop - 2 toe. Very good layback. Fell out of a huge 2 axel. Flying Camel. Good 3 toe. Combo spin with catch camel position. Overall her speed was quite good.
• Martine Dagenais - She skated to Lord of the Dance. Started with spirals in a circle. A small 2 axel but it seemed clean. Good layback. Another hunched over takeoff to a 2 lutz - 2 toe combo. Minor slip in straight line fw. Fall on 3 toe. Flying Camel had good positions as well as the combo spin.
• Geneive Denis - 3 sal (underotated and step) - 2 loop(?) This took place behind the judges bench from where I was sitting so it was hard to tell. Flying Camel, two foot in 3 toe but no fall. Layback good speed and position. 1 axel.
• Marie-Andree Rioux - Possible 2 ft on the opening 2 axel. Okay layback. fall on 3 lutz. Death drop didn't get much air time. Rather unsteady straight line fw. Hard fall on 3 toe. Combo spin okay.
• Natalie Cousineau - She skated to Reflections of Passion, which gets a big yuck mark in my book. Started with 1 axel only. Fall on 3 toe. Poor layback position. Fall on 3 flip. Flying camel. Spirals. Travel in combo spin.

Senior Mens Short: There was a bit of a delay before the men came out so we got long looks at the costumes. Jayson had the same leather pants as in Kamloops, but a different shirt. Two colours split horizontally. The bottom half was dark red and the top dark blue with white pipping at the colour splits and around the collar, which was very wide. I liked it, it seemed to go with the music better than the last one, although I liked that one too. Simon was in black shiny pants with a blue t-shirt with black sleeves and a large number 1 on the back. I don't know the signifigance of it. Finally Yvan was in black pants with a grey flowy shirt and a blue sash.

• Simon LaRochelle - Started with a good change sit, both in position and speed. Very slow into a 2 lutz. A very high flying sit. Good speed and difficulty on circular footwork. 1 flip with some other step out problems. Combo spin fine. More good speed in straight line footwork. Finally a clean double axel.
• Yvan Desjardins - started with 3 lutz - 3 toe but put both hands down. Overall good speed. 2 foot on 3 flip. Great position and speed on change camel. Straight line footwork. hands down again on 2 axel and almost fell. Good circular footwork. Good speed and positions on combo spin. Death drop.
• Jayson Dénommée - 3 axel clean but big circle on landing edge. Clean 3 lutz - 2 toe (smart considering practice that morning). Good change camel. Serpentine footwork slowed down a little. Death drop good fly. Very clean 3 flip. Again slight loss of speed on straight line footwork. Combo spin had a new position which I think was an outside camel but I couldn't be sure. Well done and very enjoyable.

Junior Pairs Short: For some reason I don't understand, the pairs were split into two groups of 1 and 4.

• Thompson/Davison - 2 twist okay, sbs 2 axel (she hand down). Lift with flip out landing a bit messy. Spins off unison and he travelled. very good death spiral, her position very low with good arch. Spirals a bit wobbly. Pair spin had good positions but some trouble in changes
• Mailhout/Poirtras - Lift was uneventful. They tried sbs 3 sals but she fell and he singled. Spirals okay. Spins went in and out of unison. 2 twist okay. Pair spin okay. Back shoot the duck into death spiral.
• Lussier/Lussier - Lift okay. sbs 2 axel ( one singled, the other fell). Spins lost then found unison. Nearly lost it on pull through in spirals. 2 twist good. Another back shoot the duck into death spiral but her knee was bent in the spiral. Pair spin had a fake out entrance (go into it then back out and go again). The positions in the pair spin were not very strong.
• Lauzon/Bondy - Lift fine. sbs 2 axel (she fell, he 3-ed out of it). a twist that might have only been a single. good unison on sbs spin but slow. Spirals good extension. Her knee bent on death spiral. Overall, I found them rather slow.
• Poirer-Saykaly/Provost - Huge 2 twist. 2 axel (he 2 foot and she might have singled). Lift to a no hand position. They survived the spirals with only one minor miscue. Very poor spin unison. Her death spiral position very good. Pairs spin okay. A very uneven team, some elements are good but the size difference makes some moves look clunky

Senior Pairs Short:

• Masse/Annecka - Great 2 twist. sbs 3 sals (he skidded on the take off edge and got no rotation at all, I missed what she might have done). The spins lost unison. Very nice throw 3 sal. Spirals good speed. Lift shaky on entrance and exit but good in air. Death spiral position good. Pair spin had good complexity. Not as good as I hoped from practice but still pretty good for a new team.
• Lachappelle/Blanchet - 2 twist good and straight in throw 2 axel. Well done. Very slow into sbs 3 toes and both fell. Pair spin fine. Spirals good extension. Great spin unison but a bit slow. Lift messy going up and a bit dicey in the air. death spiral good.
• Langlois/Archetto - great 2 twist, nice height, she slipped on the sbs 3 toe entrance and didn't jump, he doubled. sbs spin he traveled. spirals good extension by both. Death spiral fine. fall on throw 3 toe. Pair spin had Natalia position but she lacked the extension to make it work. Lift very shaky

Sunday's Competition

Sunday started bright and early with Junior Pairs practice. We opted to sleep in until Senior Pairs practice started and arrived as LaChapelle/Blanchet were running the end of their long program. It is a new program from last year to Henry V. Both seemed to struggling with the triple toes and David Annecka was having mixed success with the triple sal. I didn't see the rest of the run-throughs. At the ice make I went to the results boards and copied out as much as I could. I believe that the top four move on to Divisionals so I found those results for Novices. (An e-mail from Hazel Boon informs me that the top 8 move on, 4 to Easterns and 4 to Atlantics. This is because Quebec was supposed to be split into subsections but wasn't. She sent me the results, which I've added here. Many thanks.) Here they are, with placings for the short and long following the names. Once again, many apologies for any mispellings.

Novice Men

1. Maxim Lippé (1,2)
2. Marc-André Craig (5,1)
3. Alexandre Hamel (3,3) - Angela and I saw him at Minto Summer Skate and really enjoyed his programs.
4. David Lafleur (4,5)
5. Mark Dunlavey
6. Mathieu Michaud
7. Léo-Paul Dufour
8. Jaime Santangelo

Novice Ladies

1. Josianne Frechette (1,1)
2. Annie-Claude Rochette (3,2)
3. Pascale Bergeron (7,3)
4. Isabelle Bernier (5,4)
5. M-Pierre Maurais
6. Joannie Rochette
7. Amélie Bigras
8. Giovanna Fiore

Novice Dance

1. Girard/Vaillancourt (1,2,1)
2. Allard/Cosenza (3,1,2)
3. Destrempes/Tanguay (2,3,3)
4. Menard/Menard (4,4,4)
5. Robilland/Roy
6. Oligny-Hébert/Lampitt
7. Ellinore/Latulippe

Novice Pairs.

1. Dubois/Kelly
2. Avard/Choquet
3. Trombley/Moram
4. Armstrong/Veilleur
5. Chiasson/Maranda
6. Dagenais/Castelo
7. Monette/Vallée

Junior Dance (After Original Dance)

1. Francouer/Kirisci (1,2,1)
2. Chalifoux/Turpin (2,3,2)
3. Ackad/Rainville (4,1,3)
4. Longpré/Descaulnier (5,5,4)
5. Hamelin/Shaak (6,6,4)
6. Perreault/Perreault (3,4,6)
7. Eliot-Gargour/Carpentier (7,7,7)

Junior Pairs (after Short Program)

1. Poirier-Saykaly/Provost
2. Mailhout/Poitras
3. Thompson/Davidson
4. Lussier/Lussier
5. Lauzon/Bondy

Senior Dance (after Original Dance)

1. Piche/Denis (1,1,1)
2. Mineau/Grant (2,2,2)

Senior Ladies (after Short Program)

1. Caroline Masse
2. Aemelie Sabatier
3. Annie Bellemare
4. Nadine Gosselin
5. Martine Dagenais
6. Jennifer Plourde
7. Marie-Andree Rioux
8. Natalie Cousineau
9. Sylvie Laviguer
10. Nadia Levesque
11. Geneiveve Denis

Senior Men (after Short Program)

1. Jayson Denommee
2. Yvan Desjardins
3. Simon LaRochelle

Senior Pairs (after Short Program)

1. Masse/Annecka
2. Langlois/Archetto
3. Lachapelle/Blanchet

The two groups of Senior Ladies practiced next. Nadine Gosselin did not come to this practice but Annie Bellemare was working alot on the triple lutz and mostly falling. She finally did land some at the very end of the practice. Caroline Massé over all was skating well and looked like she was confident being in first place. Aemelie Sabatier was having a very rough practice and falling alot.

The senior men practiced next and they all seemed even more sleepy than the ladies. Yvan Desjardins came out wearing a baseball cap, which he proceed to put on backwards and had to hold on his head during a layback portion of a combo spin. Simon was as upbeat as the day before but Jayson was more subdued, though not having a bad practice. They each ran their programs. LaRochelle's program is to music from Titanic and he seems a bit overpowered by it. He spent a good portion of the practice falling hard on triple axels. Eda said it reminded her of Jayson at Skate Canada 1995; He kept practicing the triple axel and falling over and over again then did his best triple axel perfectly clean on the warmup for the long and then fell in competition. Jayson landed two nice triple axels in the run through and even threw a triple toe-triple toe at the end of the program but also had some odd slips in footwork and some weird pops on double axels. I hope he was just tired and it was not the back injury. Desjardins has a long program to Austin Powers with lots of fun posing and dancing. I did see him trying the triple loop - triple loop. Jayson tried one that I saw but it wasn't entirely succesful, stepping out of the second jump. Yvan was mostly falling on them.

That was it for practices, competition was next up.

Junior Free Dance

I'm not a dance maven and usually don't have much insight to add. I'll list the types of dances and some general comments.

• Eliot-Gargouer/Carpientier - some music that sounded like Hey Pachuco and other lounge related pieces. They started out strong but got ragged by the end, missing several holds and bumping into each other. The lifts seemed strong.
• Hamelin/Shaak - 60's jazzy music eventually turning to Pulp Fiction. They skated well but the dance and the music didn't match up very well.
• Perrault/Perrault - Klezmer folk music. They had good flow and speed on the simple moves but otherwise were rather scrapey. Good expression and rather spirited but a bit sloppy.
• Francouer/Kirisci - Your basic Latin melange. Lots of energy but the program seemed rather empty and the lifts a bit clunky. They were leading going into the Free Dance but I thought they left some room to be beaten.
• Ackad/Rainville - An arab number with highly elaborate red and gold costumes. He slipped a bit in one footwork section and they had a few miscues but the speed was good.
• Chalifoux/Turpin - Zorba in blue and white costumes. The dance seemed difficult but they skated it rather slowly.
• Longpré/Desaulniers - I think the music was Braveheart or possibly Dragonheart. I did hear bagpipes at one point. The final lift seemed to go awry. The speed was good but there didn't seem to be much in the program and it was hard to work out any particular dance theme.

So the podium for Junior Dance was

1. Sonia Francouer/Robert Kirsci
2. Marie-Perrie Chalifoux/Dany Turpin
3. Melissa Ackad/Mathieu Rainville

4. Longpré/Desaulniers
5. Hamelin/Shaak
6. Perreault/Perreault
7. Elliot-Gargour/Carpentier

Senior Free Dance

• Mineau/Grant - the same free dance as last year with new costumes to techo-industrial music with lots of very innovative moves. They skated fairly cautiously with less speed and a few sloppy moments in the lifts. Later I saw both of them talking with Paul Duchenays and wondered if he worked with them. The program was certainly reminiscent of Isabelle and Paul.
• Piche/Denis - a very odd Arab number. The beat and costume are clearly Arab but the music is a mix of The Rolling Stones and, I believe, Mozart with an arab beat overlayed on it. The dance is well skated and they have great speed and flow but I don't think much of the dance itself because the music is so irritating. She also had a hair ribbon untie itself and fall off, which didn't help matters.

The standings for Senior Dance stayed the same as the original dance.

Junior Pairs Long

• Thompson/Davidson - they drew first in both the short and the long. Is that called the Savard-Gagnon/Bradet rule? 2 twist was a bit pre-rotated and not very strong. Step out on throw 3 sal. Lift. very low death spiral with good position by her. sbs 2 axel (she fell). Star lift. pair spin nicely done. Spirals and edge moves with good speed. Throw 2 axel not huge but very clean. 2 lutz sequence (he stepped out). Lift. Sbs spins got out of unison. Another very good death spiral. The program got rather messy and all the lifts stayed two hands but the speed and edge quality was really nice.
• Lauzon/Bondy - slightly underotated 2 twist. Sbs 2 axel (she stepped out). Sbs flying camels had good unison. Lift. throw 2 sal. Pair Spin. Sbs 2 loop. Lift with scrapey footwork by him. Throw 2 loop. 2 flip to 2 toe sequence. Lift with an early set-down. Pair camel. FI death spiral with her knee rather bent. Slipped in closing pose.
• Lussier/Lussier - Swan Lake (which I have to ask, is it wise for a young team?). Bent knee on death spiral. Sbs axels, she single. A very laboured lift. Fall on throw 3 sal. Sbs spins good unison. Throw 1 axel. Sbs 2 flip (she fell and he did 1 1/4 rotations). They had some miscue in choreography in the footwork and did different steps. Lift with a flip out. Sbs 2 lutz very out of unison. Another death spiral with very bent knee. Positions not great in pair spin but speed good.
• Mailhout/Poitras - fine 2 twist. sbs 2 axel sequence to 2 toe. Lasso lift. Fall on throw 3 sal. Completely missed pairs spin. Hip axel lift to star. SBs 3 sal (she fell). She bent at the waist on a throw 2 axel landing but was otherwise clean. Loop lift. Good FI death spiral with very low position by her. SBS 2 toe. Pair spin. They started strong but clearly had some troubles and also slowed down quite a bit.
• Poirier-Saykaly/Provost - nice 3 twist. SBS 2 axel (she singled). Star lift. Throw 2 sal. Good speed on pair spin. Upside down lift. Very hard fall on throw 2 loop. SBS 2 flips lost unison. very good BI death spiral. SBS spins lost unison. 1 handed lift. 2 toe .... 2 toe sequence with poor unison. FI death spiral. Some of the pairs elements were strong and she seems to have quite a talent for pairs but the mismatch bewteen them is so large that it really distracts from the skating. At the opening and closing pose, he kneels and is as tall her standing in skates.

The podium was

1. Chantal Poirier-Sakaly/Danny Provsot
2. Marie-Eve Mailhout/Jonathan Poitras
3. Gabreille Lauzon/Michel Bondy

4. Lussier/Lussier

Senior Pairs Long

• Masse/Annecka - The pairs elements were quite good for a relatively new team. Started with a big 2 twist. SBS 3 sals (he doubled). Lift a bit scary going up but fine in air. Very nice throw 3 sal. Pair spin with pulll through to change feet that got messy at the end. SBS 2 axel (he 1) into 2 flips. Star lift that was also not good going up. Throw 3 toe low but good. Carry lift in split position. Good sbs spin unison. COme slips in footwork. Lift. FI death spiral. They were clearly a bit more promising in practice but I think they are still an impressive team for a new one. I hope they have polished up the rough edges by Nationals.
• Langlois/Archetto - She fell on 3 toes. Very good 3 twist air time but catch a bit low. Platter style lift like Kristy and Kris. Pair spin with no change of foot. Fall on throw 3 sal. BO Death spiral. FI death spiral good position. Almost fell out of throw 3 toe. Lasso lift to star. 2 axel to 2 flip sequence (he stepped out). sbs spins lost unison. Trouble going up in hip axel lift. SBS 2 axels from Spread eagles and steps but she fell. Pair spin messy.
• Lachapelle/Blanchet - Henry V with him in peasant blouse and her in gorgeous gold dress. Pair sit spin. BO death spiral, good position. 3 twist the catch was low but straight into throw 2 axel. Slow into the 3 toes and she 2. LIft. SBS 2 axel, she fell into 2 flip - 2toe sequence. Hand down on throw 3 sal. Lift. SBS 2 axel she stepped out. Spins lost unison. Lift with drop out. Footwork messy. Pair spin good speed.

No one skated cleanly so I think it came down to the unison and speed of Lachapelle/Blanchet over Masse/Annecka. Final Results:

1. Lachapelle/Blanchet (3,1)
2. Masse/Anneca (1,2)
3. Langlois/Archetto (2,3)

Before the Senior Ladies started some results were announced and we learned that Carl DeRossier won Junior men. Good job. Wish I had been able to see it but with events concurrently at two rinks it was too hard.

Senior Ladies Long

• Natalie Cousineau - death drop. 1 axel. 2 lutz (fall). 3 flip (hands). Flying camel. Spirals. Hard fall on 3 sal. Poor layback. Hard fall on 3 loop. 2 flip. 2 toe. combo spin slow. Overall speed slow.
• Sylvie Laviguer - (She is a clockwise skater!) 2 axel. Fall on 3 sal. Flying camel. 2 loop - 2 loop. Flying camel (again? So say my notes). 2 flip with step out. Layback fine. More power and speed than in short program. 2 axel (step out). Change Camel. 3 sal underotated and 2 foot. straight line fw good steps but a touch slow. 2 lutz sequence to 2 flip. Combo spin with good positions
• Marie-Andree Rioux - Hard fall on 3 toe. Changed edge into 2 lutz. Fall on 3 flip. death drop with little fly. 3 sal (2 ft). Another jump I missed (You can only concentrate for so long, how do judges do it?). 1 axel. Spirals. Layback. 3 toe (fall). 2 sal. Combo spin had good speed.
• Genevive Denis - 2 sal. 2 axel steps into 2 toe. Flying Camel. fall on 3 toe. 1 1/4 sal (landed forward on 2 feet). 2 axel. layback okay. 2 lutz. combo spin good speed.
• Nadia Levesque - 2 loop. 2 axel (slight 2 ft), death drop turned into upright when it went wrong. 3 flip (underotated and 2 foot). Layback good. 2 flip. Something that looked like a 2 toe walley but no discernable pick action. Flying camel. 2 loop. 2 loop (fall). Combo spin with unusual positions as in the short
• Aemelie Sabatier - Held on to 2 axel. 3 sal. Flying camel good speed. 2 lutz (with back split as part of steps into it). 3 loop clean but no flow. 3 toe (looked okay and then fell). very good layback. 2 sal. change sit good position. Good speed on footwork. 3 toe (fall). 2 axel, fell and got up to do steps into 2 flip. Combo spin with good positions. She started out strong but began to peter out at the end.
• Nadine Gosselin - I said this about her at Minto and I'm repeating it here. I wish she would use her speed and energy to do powerful programs instead of perky ones. Fall on 3 lutz. Very nice 3 sal. Change camel with good speed. Landed 3 toe then fell. 2 axel. Great height on 3 loop. Fast Layback. spirals with very good extension. Fall on 3 flip. Death drop very fast. fall on 3 toe. Very fast combo spin with quickly passed through positions
• Martine Dagenais - spirals. 2 axel. Same bent knee entrance to 3 lutz and fall. Flying camel good. 3 toe (fell). Layback. 2 loop from rolling threes. SKated through flip without doing it. sit spin with cannonball position. 3 flip (2 ft). Straight line footwork to odd clicking noises in music. 3 toe (hand) steps to 2 toe. Combo spin with cannonball again and travelled on back spin.
• Annie Bellemare - 1 lutz. 3 sal very good. Death drop good. 3 flip (fall). Minor slip in footwork. 2 axel. Great speed into jumps. Okay layback. 3 toe - 2 toe. Flying camel good position and speed. 2 loop. 3 sal .... 2 toe. 3 toe. combo spin lost some speed.
• Jennifer Plourde - 2 axel- 2 toe, Flying camel good speed. 3 toe. 3 flip(hard fall). 3 toe(just) steps to 2 toe. 2 axel. Catch camel.
• Caroline Masse - This was her big opportunity but it didn't work out. She started out with a hard fall on a 3 flip. 1 sal. step out of 3 loop. Flying camel. 2 toe. Wild 1 sal. Layback to 1/2 Beillman slow. 2 axel (good). 3 toe (hands). footwork good. combo spin positions rather poor.

The top three women were:

1. Annie Bellemare
2. Nadine Gosselin
3. Aemelie Sabatier

4. Caroline Masse
5. Jennifer Plourde
6. Martine Dagenais
7. Sylvie Lavigueur
8. Marie-Andrée Rioux
9. Nathalie Cousineau
10. Geneviève Denis
11. Nadia Lévesque

Senior Men Long

• Simon LaRochelle - His outfit reminded me of Todd Edlredge's old Les Miz costume. (Does that tell you how long I've been watching skating?). Started out with spread eagles but then completely missed a 3 toe entrance. Held on to 3 flip. Great height in flying sit. Fall on 3 axel (good for trying it though). Hand on 3 loop. Change sit. The choreography started to get a little lost and I felt like he was just waving his arms about as he tried to reagin control of the program. 3 sal. 2 lutz. Combo spin. 2 flip. 3 sal. 2 axel. 2 toe. Messy death drop. He seemed a bit overwhelmed by it all.
• Jayson Dénommée - 3 axel -2 toe (fine!). 3 flip. Good fly and position on flying camel. 3 lutz - 2 toe. Spirals. 3 axel (looked liked 2 foot but then a fall as well.) The program lost a little steam after the fall but picked up again with a nice 3 loop. Good combo spin. 3 lutz. Death drop good. 3 sal (landed a bit on the toe but very clean). 3 toe. Not as good as Kamloops but still very well done and clearly the winner here. I liked that he still went after the program even with the triple axel fall.
• Yvan Desjardins - 3 lutz. 2 axel. Flying sit. Posing and funny faces at the judges. 1 flip. 3 loop. Another jump that was hidden behind the judges, I thought it was another loop but might have been a sal. 2 toe. combo spin with layback. Straight line footwork. 1 flip. Combo spin. The program really eluded him but it is awfully fun to watch.

So the Senior Men stayed in the same places for the short and the long. That was the end of the events but we stayed to watch the medals. It was odd to see the height differences on the podium in the junior pairs. We got to see both Carl and Jayson get their gold medals, which looked about size of a quarter. Jayson bit down on his to check the gold. I'd wait until you get to Nationals gold for that!

Other podiums

Junior Men

1. Carl DesRossier (!) - wish I had had a chance to see it
2. Nicholas Young
3. Marc-Olivier Bossé
4. Tommy Morin
5. Sébastien Dufour
6. Jonathan Payette
7. Ludovic Wagner

Junior Ladies

1. Marianne Dubuc
2. Marie-Michelle McDuff
3. Véronique Lainesse
4. Audrey Thibault
5. Josiane Boutin
6. Valérie Marcoux
7. Cynthie Lemaine
8. Jessika Therrien

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