Three QFSC skaters took the road south to Jingle Blades for their first competition of the year.
Casey Fisher, Carmen Huang and Selena Van Aert made the trip, coming back with good results and some goals for the rest of the season.
Van Aert came away from the tournament gleaming, with a gold medal around her neck and with gold hanging around your neck it’s hard to be unsatisfied with your skate.
“I think I had a really good skate,” she said.
“I was happy with it. When I went out there I was really positive, really calm. I think that helped out my skate a lot.”
The skate came after some troubles in practice, so she was happy with such a clean skate when it counted. Despite starting on top, Van Aert said she has room to improve over the course of the season.
For Van Aert, the tournament marked the beginning of her last year so she’s really looking forward to enjoying the season.
“I just want to enjoy it and make memories.”
For Huang, it was not only the first competition of the season, but her first skate in the Gold Women category, which put her amongst a set of older skaters.
Her debut skate in the category wasn’t up to her own standards, placing Huang fifth in her category.
"If I was on top of my game I could get on top of the podium for sure," she said.
Despite solid practices the week running up to the practices, Huang's routine during the competition was a bit rough, with mistakes falling where she knows she can do better, she said.
Despite the rough start, she's hoping to do better in the coming season.
"I just need to carry my practice on to the competition," she said.
Casey Fisher finished fourth in the STAR 4 girls U13 competition.
Though she was a little frustrated with her skate, citing problems with her Camel Sit, the judges didn't seem to agree, leaving Fisher happy with her results.
The competition also served as a gauge for the rest of the season for Fisher.
"I'm looking forward to the rest of the season, because now I know what I need to work on and where my strengths are," she said.
This weekend, another trio of Quesnel Figure Skaters will compete, this time in Kitimat. Beverly Smetaniuk, Kayla Flanagan and Madison Nickolet will compete in the Kla-how-ya Interclub.