Whitehorse native Bryn Hoffman continued her rapid rise up the figure skating ranks last weekend.

Alongside pairs partner Bryce Chudak, Hoffman finished fourth at a Junior Grand Prix event in Colorado Springs, Colo., a circuit organized by the International Skating Union (ISU).

“Bryce and I are pretty happy with our performance,” Hoffman said this morning from the University of Calgary, where she is now attending part-time to study bioscience.

“The programs that we skated weren’t the best we could do, but overall we were quite happy.”

Hoffman, 18, and Chudak, 20, were the sole Canadian pairs entry competing at what marked their first international assignment.

Representing the country was special, Hoffman said. She and Chudak were fitted with Team Canada jackets – a significant moment for both.

“There was a lot of nerves, so I just tried to stay in my own zone,” she said of the event. “But there was a lot of pressure. It was pretty big.”

The duo finished fifth in the short Thursday and fourth in the free skate Saturday for an overall fourth-place finish. The two had trouble with their three throws, none of which Hoffman landed cleanly.

However, their points total of 129.34 was less than five behind Russian duo Elena Ivanova and Tagir Khakimov, who won bronze.

Fellow Russians Anastasia Gubanova and Alexei Stintsov won gold with 140.16 points, ahead of American duo Joy Weinberg and Maximiliano Fernandez.

In total, eight pairs competed.

The event was significant in many ways, said coach Annabelle Langlois.

“First off, just being selected to go is a really big honour,” she said. “Skate Canada does not have to fill the spots they have for the Junior Grand Prix. So they come in and monitor skaters and select the best in the country to go.”

The pair also strung together a short and long program that qualified them for the ISU World Junior Championships, set for March 14 to 20, 2016, in Debrecen, Hungary.

This year, Canada has three pair entry positions at junior worlds, and the final three teams will be determined at nationals.

Hoffman and Chudak also earned another date on the Junior Grand Prix circuit for later this month in Torun, Poland.

They will join fellow Canadian duo Hope MacLean and Trennt Michaud Sept. 23 to 27.

The two Ontario skaters finished ahead of Hoffman and Chudak at nationals last season – placing fourth.

Hoffman and Chudak skated to seventh place in the junior pairs program at the Canadian championships in Kingston, Ont. The duo got right back at it however, training all summer at Calgary’s Calalta Figure Skating Club.

“I don’t even think they understand the potential that they have,” said Langlois. “They had no idea where they stood at this competition, and with mistakes, they were in fourth place.

“They could have won. If they competed what they train every day, they could have medalled pretty easily, which is incredible.”

Hoffman, alongside 16-year-old singles standout Rachel Pettitt, is a graduate of the Yukon capital’s Arctic Edge Skating Club.

And the local figure skating program is benefitting from the duo’s success on the big stage, coach Michelle Semaschuk told the Star.

Hoffman and Pettitt’s continued success has had a major impact on up-and-coming skaters.

“Those girls are putting Whitehorse on the map,” said Semaschuk. “The two of them are huge role models for our skaters – I can guarantee it.

“It proves to them that just because you’re in a small town growing up, anything is possible.”

Watching Hoffman excel on the Junior Grand Prix circuit also serves as validation to the many coaches who log plenty of hours at the Whitehorse rink each season, Semaschuk added.

“I have to say when I watched them skate, I got kind of teary-eyed,” she said. “To see an athlete that you’ve coached representing Canada is probably one of the best feelings you could ever have as a coach, especially coming from a small town.

“It goes to show what hard work, dedication and perseverance can do ... and it’s inspiring even for us coaches to continue.”

Semaschuk noted Mikayla Kramer – another rising star from Whitehorse – recently joined Pettitt in Kelowna, B.C., for six months of training.

Hoffman’s mom, Cheryl Van Blaricom, was in the arena bleachers in Colorado Springs over the weekend.

Van Blaricom has been marvelling at her daughter’s talents ever since Hoffman joined CanSkate when she was just two years old.

“It was a really hard decision to let her go away to skate and go to school when she had just turned 16,” she said.

“But she’s excelled academically and in her skating. She loves pairs. It’s why she left and what she wanted to do. ... It’s really gratifying.”