Evening of Champions

Alexandra Young/Matthew Young

Alexandra Young (14) and Matthew Young (16) are a brother and sister pairs team that have been skating together for eight years. They have competed at the national level since 2005, and in 2007 won a bronze medal at the Canada Games in Whitehorse at prenovice level. They returned to Junior Nationals in 2008 and put together two great skates to win a bronze medal.

Both also are successful singles skaters, with Matthew being the current provincial pre-novice mens champion, and Alex competing at Eastern Challenge at prenoive level also.. Alex competed at Junior Nationals at juvenile level in 2006, and finished 7th.

They are 2008 Premier's Athletic Awards recipients, and received the Team of the Year Award at the Corner Brook Kent Sports Awards in April. Alexandra and Matthew skate for the Silver Blades Club in Corner Brook and they are coached by their mother, Lisa Young.

Ashley Bishop

12-year old Ashley Bishop won the 2008 Sectional Championship at juvenile level, and qualified to represent the section at Junior Nationals where she finished 8th. At the 2008 Provincial Championships she set a provincial record with a score of 34.79.

She represents Mount Pearl Skating Club, and is coached by Kevin Walsh. In 2006 she was selected by Skate Canada to attend the national youth camp in Ottawa. National Youth Camps provide younger, talented athletes with a national seminar opportunity early in their development. Ashley was one of 20 athletes selected from throughout the country. She is a recipient of a 2008 Premier's Athletic Award.

Ashley combines great speed, with excellent spins, strong jumps and clearly enjoys performing.

Julia Mercer

14-year-old Julia Mercer is the 2008 Sectional PreNovice champion and represented the section at the 2007 and 2008 Eastern Challenge events. 2007 was a banner year for Julia, finishing 3rd at Sectionals, representing the province at the Canada Games in Whitehorse and winning several awards, including the Withers award for most outstanding performance at the provincial championships. She skates with Prince of Wales SC in St. John's, and is coached by Wendy Mercer and Jean McCloy.

Julia is a strong all-round performer with excellent spins and jumps, and nearly always skates with a smile on her face.

Alex White

Three time sectional juvenile champion Alex White last year competed at Pre-Novice, finishing 2nd at Sectionals, and 15th at Eastern CXhallenge. He has competed at Junior Canadians three times, narrowly missing a medal with a fourth place finish in 2007. In 2007 he was named Sectional Competitive skater of the year, and recived the athlete of the year award from his home community. He is also a succesful hockey and soccer player.

Alex skates for the Snowflake club in Happy Valley - Goose Bay and is coached by Dominic Pike.

Yvonne Chan

15-year old Yvonne Chan skates at the Novice level and has qualfieid four times for Eastern Challenge through Sectionals. Yvonne won gold and silver medals at the 2008 Provincial Championships, and was runner up at the Sectional Championships.

She skates with Prince of Wales SC in St. John's, and is coached by Wendy Mercer and Jean McCloy. A powerful skater, she is known for her strong jumps and speed. She is a multisport athlete, representing the province as a sprinter.

Synergy

Synergy is a synchronised skating team representing the Prince of Wales Skating Club in St. John's. They compete at Junior level in the Festival stream of national competition.

Most of the team have been skating together for over five years. They range in age from 15 to 21, and have travelled out-of-province several times, most recently in January 2008 to Winterfest in Ontario, where they finished 10th in a strong field, beating teams that finished in the top 10 at Canadian Nationals. They were provincial champions in 2006 and 2008, setting a Provincial record in their 2008 competition.

All the 2007-08 team are returning for 2008-09. They are Allie Winter, Andrea Thistle, Kathryn Vardy, Jennifer Noel, Beth Liverman, Megan Burt, Robyn Ledrew, Siobhan Wilkins, Hayley Porter, Jenna Hillyard, Kimberly Crocker, Clara Pollard, Nicole Burt, Kayla Kennedy, Samantha Phelan, Lana McCaw and Valerie Ball. The team is coached by Shirley Thistle and the manager is Susan Thistle. The music for the team's programme this year consists of a compilation of Madonna's music, choreographed by Nita Patel. Nita was a member of a World Championship Senior Team and has been coaching synchronized skating for many years at both the competitive and festival levels.

Provincial teams

Group numbers feature members of our provincial teams. The Section names athletes to Senior A and Senior B teams, Junior A and B teams and the "PEP" team (for younger promising skaters)