The western provinces flexed their collective figure skating muscles Monday, as five of the top six placings after the short program in both male and female pre-novice singles belonged to either British Columbia or Alberta.

B.C. was particularly dominant, with pre-novice male skaters Liam Firus and Rhys Anderson finishing one and two respectively, while pre-novice females Cambria Little and Nicole Orford also finished one and two.

With scores of 31.79 and 30.49, Firus and Anderson got a big jump on their next closest competitor, Stuart Ure of Alberta, who grabbed a score of 27.43.

'Liam Firus is, like, amazing,' said Ure, following his program. 'He's been doing really good.'

Ure, who trains at the Royal Glenora Club in Edmonton, was pleased with his own routine as well. At junior nationals earlier this year, he fell on his first jump during his short program, so his goal at the Canada Winter Games was to improve from that.

'I wanted to get that first jump and I nailed it,' he grinned. 'So that was sweet.'

Ure, just 14 years old, also captivated many in the crowd with his personality and showmanship, something that his role model, Canadian figure skating legend Kurt Browning, was famous for.

That artistic side is something he's really been working at over the past season, said Ure. Now, he's aiming for the podium.

'I really want to get a medal (at the Canada Games),' he stated. 'I won gold at the test event here last year, so I want to do well again.'

Anderson was also feeling confident after his short program, but was reluctant to start talking about medals just yet. The 16-year-old from Cobble Hill said he was excited just to get the opportunity to compete at the Games.

'I just want to go out there, do my best and have fun,' he said. 'Just stay confident and try not to think about it too much.'

Team Yukon's Kevin Caron also skated in the pre-novice male event Monday afternoon at the Canada Games Centre, and sat ninth overall heading into Wednesday's free skate.

Caron landed one double axel in his program and also pulled off some nice spins, but struggled with a couple of his other jumps.

'It wasn't too bad,' he said. 'I could have done a little better. I'm still getting used to the stands, all the people.

' It's just a little different.'

Caron plans to throw in two triple jumps for the long program a triple sow and a triple loop. He said he's been landing both of them quite often in practice.

While a medal is likely out of reach at this point, the 16-year-old Yukoner follows Anderson's frame of mind.

'I just want to have as much fun as I possible can,' said Caron. 'Just enjoy the experience because it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.'

On the female side, Newfoundland's Kaetlyn Osmond, just 11 years old, got the crowd pumped up with fun music and boatloads of energy. It was enough to earn her a score of 28.73 and fourth place overall.

Quebec's Alexandra Levy, 15, sat in third place after the short program.

Pre-novice skaters Amelia Austin and Chantal Emond represented Team Yukon in fine fashion.

Austin, 14, showed off some beautiful spins during her short program while Emond had a nice footwork section.

Austin sat 19th heading into the free skate while Emond was 21st overall.

'I haven't skated like that is a really long time,' said Emond, who was obviously very pleased with her performance personally. 'That's one of my best skates in a very long time.

'I don't care about my marks. I just care that I actually skated decent for once,' she giggled.

Emond said she's been working a lot on the feel of her jumps over the last few months and it really seems to be working. The 16-year-old has also been focusing on staying calm during her routines.

'I don't know why, but today I didn't feel nervous. The crowd didn't distract me.

'I just thought, I'm doing this in my home town, so I'm going to go for it.''

Meanwhile, three more skaters will represent Team Yukon in competition today at the Canada Games Centre.

Teneil Caron will compete in the female novice competition, starting with the short program at 11:45 a.m. Aimee Lien and Theresa Roberts will participate in the Special Olympics Level II female elements portion, at 2:15 p.m.

The male and female pre-novice singles free skates are scheduled for Wednesday at 12:55 p.m. and 7:45 p.m., respectively.

Teneil will skate her long program at 12:45 p.m. on Thursday while both Lien and Roberts will perform their free skate at 3:10 p.m. Thursday.