Yukon figure skaters clearly belong among the top skaters in the country.

Pre-novice skaters Bryn Lauren Hoffman finished eighth overall and Rachel Pettitt took 13th in a field of 21 competitors at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax, N.S., Wednesday.

Hoffman finished with a score of 71.73 after having finished the short program in sixth with a 26.47 score and a 45.26 score in the free skate (long program). Pettitt finished with a 64.42 score, moving up from 17th after a short program score of 19.79 and a 44.63 in the long.

Ontario's Lisa Nasu-Yu took gold with a score of 86.32.

Yukoner Teneil Caron finished 15th in the novice competition with a score of 60.82 (21.94 in the short, 38.88 in the long).

Team Yukon coach Trish Pettitt said all skaters competed like they belonged.

"They clearly belong there,” she said. "You could see performance-wise how they skated to the audience, how they did their programs. They belonged and it was good, and good for the Yukon too.”

Trish said the goal for the pre-novice skaters was to finish in the top 10.

"I think to have two Yukon skaters (compete) just shows how well they're doing and they're right up there with the best of Canada and can compete at that level easily,” she said.

Consistency was key for Hoffman, Trish noted.

"Bryn skated consistently, she skated a really good program, her performance was great. She landed everything … she had a clean performance,” she said.

"She was strong in her short and she performed all the elements. She was consistent in her long.”

Rachel stumbled in her short program but showed tremendous character to return to the long program with her game face on.

"Rachel's performance was flawless,” Trish said of her daughter's long program.

"She just had the best performance she had all year. Unfortunately, when you place not so well in the short it kind of puts you in a position that you can pull up – she pulled up a whole flight of skaters – but you won't be able to pull up that much.”