Five Arctic Edge Skaters competed in the BMO Skate Canada 2009 BC/YT Section Championships, held on Nov. 12 through 16 in Nanaimo, BC.

This figure skating competition is the qualifying event for Canadians and Junior Canadians and attracts the best skaters in BC and Yukon.

Rachel Pettitt competed in the Pre-Juvenile Ladies event, finishing in 23rd place.

Bryn Hoffman skated a strong program to finish 13th in the Juvenile Ladies event.

In the Novice Ladies event, Millie Austin delivered a clean short program, earning her ninth place entering the freeskate.

She finished the event in 12th place. Teammate Teneil Caron placed 27th in both the short and freeskate programs, for an overall 27th place finish.

In the tough Junior Ladies Event, Michele Gorczyca finished eighth in the short program and finished the event in 10th place.

Kevin Caron skated his way to fifth place in the Junior Men's event, after finishing sixth in the short program. As a result of his efforts, he was named the alternate skater to attend Canadians should one of the first four skaters be unable to attend for any reason.

On Saturday, the Arctic Edge Skating Club will host the Yukon Gold Nugget Championships. 

The club's junior and senior StarSkaters will be competing and performing for judges in the following events: 

• Elements; a short program consisting of set elements skated without music;

• Freeskate; traditional figure skating programs to music, elements and length of program governed by SkateCanada Well Balanced Program Criteria for the level of competitor;

• Interpretive, a program skated to music of the skaters choice where judging is focused on the skaters ability in interpreting their music;

• Creative; skaters hear a piece of music twice during warm-up, create and skate a program to that piece of music.

Events begin at 9 a.m. and are expected to be completed by about 1 p.m.

Story provided by Cheryl Van Blaricom, Publicity for the Arctic Edge Skating Club