As Good As It Gets

Another Skate Canada Junior Nationals.
One more medal for the Nepean Skating Club.
When Lisa Casselman and Ryan Behnia won the pre-novice ice dance crown on Friday night in Brampton, Ont., it extended a nice little run at this event for the west Ottawa club.
Last year, Brooke Paulin and Nathan Last earned a silver medal in novice pairs in Moncton, N.B.
In 2004, it was Mandy Valentine enjoying a golden moment in the novice women's event right at home at the Nepean Sportsplex.
The latest one, though, had to be the most thrilling.
Casselman and Behnia were fifth after he first compulsory dance (American Waltz), then moved up to third following compulsory No. 2 (Rocker Foxtrot). They made their big move to the top in the free dance.
Still, it was a nail biter. Check out the final overall numbers: Casselman and Behnia, 61.87 points; Quebec’s Marie-Philippe Vincent and Kevin Pierro, 61.29; Quebec’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Anthony Quintal, 61.13.
Three teams, separated by less than a point.
Doesn’t get much closer than that.
Casselman and Behnia were second-last to skate. But they had to wait out the performance of Vincent and Pierro before they finally knew.
That they’d gone from 10th a year ago to Canadian champs.
“Oh, my God. That was the first thing I said,” Casselman, 14, said on the afternoon after their triumph. “It was like ‘I can’t believe we actually did this.’ ”
Behnia, 16, was still overwhelmed by it all a day later.
“I don’t think it’s quite hit me yet,” he said. “It seems like such a big shock. We’ve been hoping for this all year, but I don’t think it’ll hit me until we get home.”
The young duo are in their sixth year together. They gave a hint of what might be possible at Junior Nationals back in December, when they posted the highest total score of any team at the East and West Challenges. But that was ancient history by the time they showed up at the Powerade Centre this week.
“You really can’t focus on that,” said Casselman. “You just have to put it behind you. This is a different competition, and anything can happen.”
Not that they hadn’t dreamed about what happened Friday night.
“We’ve been talking since the beginning of the year about how much we wanted to win nationals,” she said. “But it didn’t become real to us until (Friday) night. It’s one of those things that just hits you — you weren’t really expecting it, but you were wishing it would happen.”
Wish granted, you could say. After a few days of celebration, though, it’s back to work. The Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse await them early in March.
While many of the same teams they just skated against will be there, Behnia said “it’ll be a different atmosphere in a different place. It will feel like a mini-Olympics.”
But will it will like Friday night? That, my friends, will be tough to top.

A Mad Waltz To The Finish

There’s quite the battle brewing for the pre-novice ice dance medals at the Skate Canada Junior Nationals in Brampton, Ont.
And Lisa Casselman and Ryan Behnia of the Nepean Skating Club are right in the middle of it. Casselman and Behnia posted a score of 23.55 in Thursday’s compulsories to stand third behind a pair of Quebec teams — Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Anthony Quintal (24.70) and Marie-Philippe Vincent/Kevin Pierro (23.78).
Right behind Casselman and Behnia in fourth are another Quebec couple, Penelope Mondion and Benoit Gagnon (23.25).
That the Nepean duo are in the hunt for the medals shouldn’t be a surprise: They recorded the highest score of any duo at the East and West Challenges back in December. And they got stronger as the day went on Thursday, finishing fourth in the first compulsory and a solid second-best in the other.
We’ll know how it all shakes down later tonight — the free dance final is scheduled for a 5:55 start.
*** They spread the gold medals all around the country in Thursday’s juvenile finals. The new champs included B.C.’s Nam Nguyen (men), Quebec’s Roxanne Rheault (women, with an impressive 43.23 score), Saskatchewan’s Tara Hancherow and Paul-Romi Poulin (pairs), and Elisabeth Dyer and Tayor Dilley of Alberta (ice dance).
*** Nepean’s Sarah and Steven Clarke wound up fifth in juvenile dance, while Elizabeth Comeau of the Gloucester Skating Club placed ninth among juvenile women. Hillary DesRoches of Pembroke and Renfrew’s Spencer Yakaback were seventh in juvenile ice dance.

Medal Dance?

Will the Nepean Skating Club be in the medals again at the Skate Canada Junior Nationals?
Young ice dancers Sarah and Steven Clarke are certainly in position to challenge for the podium heading into today’s juvenile free dance final at the Powerade Centre in Brampton, Ont.
The Eastern Ontario Sectional champions stand fourth after Wednesday’s compulsory dances, but it’s a close, close fourth. After finishing fifth and third in the two compulsories, the brother and sister team posted an overall score of 21.98 points. That’s a mere 0.17 behind Jayden Rau of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., and Tyler Grant of Ingersoll, Ont., who currently hold down the bronze-medal position.
Alberta’s Elisabeth Dyer and Taylor Dilley hold a commanding lead with 25.43 points. Currently in second are Edna and Edberg Khong of Ajax, Ont. (22.57).
If the Clarkes climb onto the podium, they’ll follow in the footsteps of Nepean clubmates Brooke Paulin and Nathan Last, who were silver medallists in novice pairs at the 2006 junior nationals in Moncton, N.B.
All the juvenile medals will be handed out today. Here are the times for the free skate finals: pairs, 1:25 p.m.; men, 2:40 p.m.; ice dance, 4:25 p.m., and women, 5:40 p.m.

Junior Achievement

One of my favourite events that I've ever covered was the 2004 Skate Canada Junior Nationals, which were held at the Nepean Sportsplex right here in Ottawa.
It was truly a treat to see the real future of skating in our country, from the juvenile through novice levels. A couple of the medallists from that year — Diane Szmiett of Watford, Ont., and Vancouver's Jeremy Ten — have since gone on to bigger and better things, each having progressed to a Canadian junior title (Szmiett a year ago in Ottawa; Ten this year in Halifax).
The 2007 version of Junior Nationals gets under way today at the Powerade Centre in Brampton, Ont. There's only one event today — juvenile compulsory dance — but they'll keep two ice pads hopping from Thursday through Saturday.
If you're in the Brampton area, it's worth your time to give it a look.
*** Taking care of my own backyard ... here are the Ottawa-area entries at this week's junior nationals:
Juvenile — Elizabeth Comeau, Gloucester Skating Club, women; Sarah and Steven Clarke, Nepean Skating Club, ice dance; Hillary Desroches, Pembroke, and Spencer Yakaback, Renfrew, pairs.
Pre-Novice — Lisa Casselman and Ryan Behnia, Nepean, ice dance; Chelsi Fahrngruber and David Leenen, Nepean, pairs.
Novice — Paul Parkinson, Nepean, men.