Terrace skater Brianne Monsen was all smiles and radiant in her performances at the recent regional championships, where she medalled in every one of her six skating competitions.
“She really knows how to pull the audience in... she’s just one of those skaters,” said coach Heather Hanna of Brianne. “She’s totally a natural performer.”
In her free skate solo, performed to the theme of The Incredibles, Brianne executed five double jumps, including an axel double toe, double sow, flip, and a double loop-double loop.
She said she was thrilled to master the moves for the audience.
“I landed my axel with the toe for the first time in competition,” she said with eager excitement.
“I was pretty happy about that.” Brianne brought home two gold, three silver and one bronze medal from the Jan. 21-22 competition.
But the whole Terrace team stood out at the recent Cariboo North Central Regional Championship. In fact, the Terrace team of 10 performed so strongly they secured 29 medals, more than any other club, and claimed the overall regional trophy, said coach Jennifer Kuehne. It’s quite a feat for a smaller club like Terrace, since some larger clubs have more than 30 skaters and competitions have skaters from as far as Fort Nelson, Dawson Creek, Prince George, and Williams Lake.
Assistant coach Heather Hanna, who was coaching her first competition, said it was awesome to see skaters radiate under the spotlight.
“It wasn’t just about the jumps and tricks, it was about the skating as a whole,” she said, noting that the artistic side really fills out a performance.
“Some of them, you don’t see them perform much in practice, but then come competition, all of a sudden ‘oh, there’s a smile,’ Hanna said. “I was trying to pull it out of them, but I actually saw them do it,” she added proudly.
Kaytlin Gingles was one who stood out in this, Hanna said. With clunky hand motions and head movements, Gingles pulled off a sharp performance in her robotic interpretive routine, and took home one silver and two bronze medals from the competition.
Teysean Henry emerged more from her shy shell, and Hanna said she performed more freely and precisely completed her moves. Henry took home three silver.
Camryn Monsen also stood out to Hanna. Injured earlier this season, Camryn just laced up again after the new year, hitting the ice for less than three weeks to spin together a routine for the championship.
“She had very consistent jumping this weekend,” Hanna said, adding that “she skated really beautifully in her interpretive.” Camryn took home two gold and two silver medals in her competitions.
Makayla Forrest is the youngest in her category. At nine years old, she skates against skaters ages 12-13, but Hanna says she is such a strong skater, that she fits right in. Forrest gracefully swept through her solo and later landed both her axels in her free skate. She earned one gold, one silver and one bronze medal in her competitions.
Maya Lecuyer is one of the club’s strongest skaters, and despite being quite sick, still earned two gold medals and three silver in her categories.
Halle Classen conquered a fun, folky, Irish-style river dance in her interpretive, and earned a total of two gold and one bronze in her categories.
Emma DeCario won silver with beautiful spirals and team elements. She also sped through a fast free skate routine to the theme of a race car driver, complete with quick crossovers, tight turns and twizzles as well as several top-speed spins.
Hanah Lee earned two top-10 finishes in her categories, and skated her interpretive beautifully. Coach Hanna also competed in one category and won gold. Now skaters are gearing up to perform an Ice Show here in Terrace March 9 to the theme of good versus evil.