Amanda Velenosi, earned a place on the Canadian Team with a bronze-medal finish at the 2008 BMO National Junior Free Skating Championships.
(Photo: Courtesy)
Photo:Juteau
Amanda Velenosi and Vanessa Juteau make national skating team
Two Laval skaters, Amanda Velenosi and Vanessa Juteau earned spots on the national figure skating team, following their exceptional performances at the Canadian Junior Championships last weekend.
Velenosi made the team on the merits of her bronze-medal finish in the competition, recording a combined points total of 117.33 in her two programs.
Kelsey McNeil of New Brunswick and Vanessa Grenier of Quebec were the only two skaters to finish ahead of Amanda, who skates out of the Club de patinage artistique (CPA) de Laval.
Could have won gold
"I skated two good programs. I'm very happy with my performance. I trained hard for these Canadian Championships and the results show it," the young athlete stated. "I knew I could climb the podium. If I had skated a clean free-style program I won have won the gold," she added.
Amanda excelled in the short program, finishing fourth. "I made a little mistake in my triple-toe jump, but it didn't cost me much. I made a few more small mistakes in my free-style (long) program. I did a single axel instead of a double."
Stepping up
Seventh overall after the short program, Vanessa Juteau registered the third-best free-style (long) performance of the junior championships. Thanks to her spirited effort, the 17 year-old, who also skates out of CPA Laval, climbed to fifth spot.
Last year, Vanessa failed to make the national team, finishing seventh at the championships. "I reached my goal. I opened up in my double loop in the short program and that's what cost me a medal," admitted Vanessa, who next year can compete in the senior ranks. "We'll discuss it with the coaches," she told Courrier Laval.
Going international?
Their finishes in the top five in the national championships could qualify Amanda and Vanessa, who train with coaches Manon Perron, Danielle Robillard and Nathalie Martin, for international competition.
"We'll know during the course of the year, but they'll certainly have to take into account what I've done when they give out the assignments. I'm confident of participating in an international competition," said bronze medal winner Velenosi, echoing similar sentiments expressed by Juteau.
Other results
Gold-medal winner in the Quebec division, Amanda Juteau (Vanessa's younger sister), finished 11th among junior skaters. Andrée-Anne Desjardins, who was competing in her first Canadian Championships, finished 14th.
Christina Bourgeois of CPA Les Larmes d'Argent de Laval and partner Jonathan Pelletier took 11th place in the senior dance category. This was the couple's first appearance at the national championships.
In men's competition, juniors Samuel Morais and Louis-Philippe Sirois finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Samuel took 14th place in the short program, but recovered well enough to finish fifth in free-style (long). After finishing fourth in the short program, Louis-Philippe slipped a few places in long, finishing seventh.
The spectacular Martinez
In his first year in senior competition Ian Martinez showed his ample talent, finishing in 10th place. In the process, Ian wowed the crowd with some exciting moves. The spectators loved his sense of the spectacular, showing their appreciation with lusty and sustained applause.
Photo: Velenosi
(Photo: Courtesy)
Photo:Juteau
(Photo: Martin Alarie)
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