麻豆社区

Yukon figure skaters picked up a pair of second-place finishes in Chilliwack, B.C. over the weekend.

Rachel Pettitt and Mikayla Kramer represented the Arctic Edge Skating Club at the 2013 Super Series Autumn Leaves competition Oct. 18 to 20. Both finished second in their respective categories.

Pettitt, 14, is in the midst of her second season of training in B.C. under the tutelage of Jason and Karen Mongrain at the Kelowna Skating Club.

The Whitehorse skater placed second overall in the novice women category with a points total of 90.88, second only to B.C. skater Megan Yim.

Sixteen skaters competed in the category.

Pettitt scored a 33.92 in her short program, third-best in the category, before recording a near-flawless 56.96 in her free program, second-best at the event.

Her free program vaulted her into second overall among novice women skaters.

"This is good practice before the big competition which is sectionals in November,鈥� Pettitt said yesterday when reached in Kelowna. "(Novice) is definitely more difficult and I'm trying to push myself. I'm not aiming for an easy program. I want to push myself.鈥�

Last season, the Whitehorse skater finished fourth in the country among 56 pre-novice skaters at the Skate Canada Challenge.

This year, she picked up right where she left off with the goal of recording a top-18 finish at Challenge, which would qualify her for national competition.

Pettitt has been competing since May, scoring a number of top finishes in events across Western Canada and in the U.S.A., including SummerSkate in Burnaby (second), and Sask Skate Invitational in Regina (third), among others.

"I'm really happy with how everything's going right now,鈥� she said. "As long as I keep on the same track, I think it should be a good year.鈥�

Pettitt has added two triples to her repertoire this season.

"She's doing really well,鈥� said her mom/coach Trish Pettitt. "She has two triples in her short, and in every competition it's getting better. The degree of difficulty is the difference from last year.鈥�

Trish Pettitt said development is key at this age level, and her daughter's continual progress as the result of hard work continues to make her proud.

"Anyone's proud of their children no matter what,鈥� Trish Pettitt said. "But she knows what she wants and she works hard for it. I think that's just who she is and what she wants.鈥�

Kramer, 10, competed in the pre-juvenile women category in Chilliwack, picking up 24.62 points in her free skate to finish second overall in her group of 13.

"I thought I would do pretty good,鈥� the young skater said from Vancouver Tuesday. "For Autumn Leaves, I wasn't nervous. I was pretty confident.鈥�

The 脡cole 脡milie-Tremblay student said skating in a competitive environment such as Autumn Leaves is a fun experience.

"I was really happy,鈥� she said. "I only fell on one thing. Unfortunately it was my combo, so I lost a couple of points. But overall I was very happy.鈥�

Christine Benedek said her daughter is becoming a more competitive skater and is currently training in Vancouver on her program for Arctic Winter Games. Last summer, Kramer trained in Coquitlam, B.C.

Benedek said the margin between first and second was very slim. Kelowna skater Maya Rose finished first with a score of 25.76.

"If she hadn't fallen, it would have been very tough to judge between them,鈥� Benedek told the Star.