Regina playing host to national figure skating event
Regina playing host to national figure skating event
Over 250 skaters have flocked to the Co-operators Centre in Regina for the 2023 Skate Canada Challenge for pre-novice and novice categories.
The event began on Wednesday and runs until Saturday, Jan. 28. It features skaters in men’s, women’s, pairs, and ice dancers for both the pre-novice and novice categories.
Andre Bourgeois, NextGen Director for Skate Canada, said the skaters only compete at their provincial level.
“Pre-novice, they compete at their province and then they qualify to come to this event,” he explained. “In novice, they [do] the same and compete in their province and come to this event, but the top will qualify to the national championship next month in Calgary.”
Saskatchewan has eight athletes competing in the Skate Canada Challenge:
Novice Women - Rory Greenbank (placed 22nd out of 41)
Novice Dance Team - Shane Benko and Jillian Benko
Pre-Novice Men - Eric Swalm placed 27 out of 33
Pre-Novice Women - Azizza Kowalchuk (39th out of 46), Aya Burrell (42), Addison Tribe (46)
Pre-Novice Pair Team - Julia Shindle and Stefan Lotz
The solo skaters’ competition wrapped up on Thursday but the pairs and dance team will compete Friday and Saturday.
“It’s definitely strange [competing here]. Coming from Saskatchewan being ice dancers there’s not many other ice dancers to compete with so it’s definitely a big adjustment,” said Jillian Benko.
“It’s not that scary though [competing against others]. Maybe I thought it would be but it’s kind of nice having to compete against other people, even if we don’t win,” said Shane.
Jillian, 18, and Shane, 16, are siblings who have been skating as a duo for six years.
“We decided to partner up for ice dance to go to the 2018 Saskatchewan Winter Games,” said Jillian on how they became Dance Team partners. Both have also competed in men and women’s categories in the past.
Now they find themselves relying on one another when the music starts.
“It’s just like we know each other so well. We can just be like, ‘We’ve got this!’ We know how to settle each other down,” said Jillian.
It is a different story for pairs Shindle and Lotz who only began skating together a year and half ago.
Shindle, 11, is from Shellbrook and Lotz, 16, is from Prince Albert.
“We knew of each other here and there [in the skating world] but pairs brought us together,” said Lotz.
“I would sometimes go to PA for extra training so I would see him,” said Shindle.
The two have matching upbeat personalities that translate to their chemistry on the ice.
“I felt like everything went well [today]. We kept on smiling and having more fun as time went on. We were like, ‘Wow, this is lots of fun. Let’s keep doing it,’” said Lotz.
“It’s different because there’s a lot of people here and I’m not really used to that. I feel like competing against these other teams helps us,” said Shindle.
Both were excited to showcase their throw double-loop at the competition and to represent Saskatchewan.
“It’s amazing like representing a whole province, it’s awesome,” exclaimed Lotz.
“We have 19 pairs that we’re against but we would be very happy to finish top 10,” both agreed.
The event is introducing the skaters to the expanding world of competition in their sport, leading to many first time experiences.
“They’re learning to compete and for some of these skaters, it’s the first time maybe they’ve competed away from home, or an even bigger trip,” said Bourgeois.
“They’re competing with everybody else across the country. So I mean that’s a different environment for them to start managing and, you know, it’s a little bit more official.”
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's calls for protests ahead of his anticipated indictment in New York have generated mostly muted reactions from supporters, with even some of his most ardent loyalists dismissing the idea as a waste of time or a law enforcement trap.
Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
In an effort to keep the foreign interference story at the forefront, and to do an apparent endrun around the Liberal filibuster blocking one study from going ahead, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is forcing MPs to debate and then vote on a motion instructing an opposition-dominated House committee to strike its own review.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is due to meet with Vladimir Putin in a political boost for the isolated Russian president after the International Criminal Court charged him with war crimes in Ukraine.
Even at one of the tallest natural peaks on Earth, humans have left their mark in a trail of bacteria as researchers have found germs from coughing and sneezing that have been potentially preserved for centuries on Mount Everest.
One person has been confirmed dead and six people remain missing as police continue to search for victims after a fire swept through a building in Old Montreal on Thursday.
The Town of Strathmore and Siksika Nation hosted the first Lead By Example Powwow this weekend in honour of a young Indigenous man who was shot to death four years ago.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death for two constables responding to a domestic dispute Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service says.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death for two constables responding to a domestic dispute Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service says.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in 'What Happened to Ben' on CTV W5.
March 20 marks the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere, and, after a long, grey winter, Torontonians can soon look forward to warmer temperatures and sunnier days.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
The Rideau McDonald's Farewell March brought people from across the city, some dressed in costumes, who wanted to say goodbye to a part of what they say makes Ottawa Ottawa.
If you are yearning to walk the trails around Mud Lake in the Britannia Conservation Area, be aware there are wild turkeys looking for mates. A gang of three have been chasing and pecking at visitors to the nature trail for weeks.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
Vancouver firefighters were called to the Downtown Eastside Sunday evening after a fire destroyed multiple tents in an encampment and spread to a building near Main and East Hastings streets.
An international student was swarmed and beaten by a group of people who ripped off his turban and dragged him across the sidewalk by his hair in Kelowna, B.C., Friday evening, according to a local politician.
Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
Two families were displaced early Monday morning after a fire ripped through a building in Montreal's Quartier Latin. No one was injured, according to the Montreal fire department (SIM).
Mounties in Port McNeill violated a suspect's Charter rights by failing to allow him to contact a lawyer promptly after his 2019 drug trafficking arrest, a judge has ruled.
The University of Prince Edward Island Faculty Association says its staff has gone on strike after what it says are failed attempts to enter additional negotiations with the university's administration.
The student union president at Cape Breton University said food insecurity has become a concern for many students and the on-campus food bank cannot keep up with demand.
The University of Prince Edward Island coach is defending the team’s actions, after the University of Alberta team skated off the ice without handshakes at the U Sports Men’s Hockey National Championship in Charlottetown.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
A community is in mourning after a 10-year-old girl was killed earlier this week when flames tore through her family’s camping trailer southeast of Brantford.
St. Patrick's day street parties in Waterloo, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau making an announcement in Guelph, and a woman charged with defrauding doulas round out the most-read stories of the week.
