ROUEN, France — Canada’s Nova squad of Saint-Hubert, Que., captured the gold medal in junior competition and a silver medal at the senior level on Saturday to conclude the 2023 French Cup synchronized skating event.
In the junior event, Nova won both the short and long programs totalling 181.25 points with team best scores in both skates. Fond du Lac Blades of the United States finished second at 173.62, while Ice Steps of Finland was at 169.48.
Ice Ignite of Ilderton, Ont., moved from seventh after the short to fifth overall with the fourth best free skate for 153.11.
"We wanted to improve on our score from the national championships (last month), said Nova Junior co-captain Jordan Campbell. ‘’We were proud with how we performed.’’
Nova remained second in the senior competition less than two points from top spot. Team Elite from the U.S. took the gold with 201.18, Nova scored 199.27 and Les Zoulous from France were third at 170.81.
Last week, Nova, national silver medallists, were fifth at an event in Sweden.
‘’We came over here hoping to deliver solid performances in each of our programs,’’ said Nova captain Alyssa O’Leary. ‘’We got some great feedback that our short program was dynamic and our long really touched the audience.’’
Next on the synchro schedule is the 2023 Hevelius Cup in Gdansk, Poland from Feb. 9-11. Nova, Ice Ignite and NEXXICE of Burlington, Ont., will represent Canada at the junior competition.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2023.
The Canadian Press
