Local figure skaters get jump on the competition

A quartet of local athletes represented the Sudbury Skating Club (SSC) recently, as the young ladies got a head start on the fall competitive schedule, taking part in Minto Summer Skate 2014 in Ottawa.

After sliding into sixth place in the short program with a score of 24.88 points, Alyssa Murray vaulted all the way to second in the free program, registering 49.80 points in the Novice Women's division.

Mackenzie Anderson finished fourth in the B-3 field of Juvenile Women, earning 24.76 points in the free skate, while Madeline Baron was ranked ninth and 11th after her two routines, also in Novice Women.

Baron posted scores of 26.13 (short program) and 42.39 (free program), making a return visit to the event in the nation's capital. While she now trains out of town, Cassandra Bilsborough maintains her affiliation with the SSC, placing sixth and ninth in Ottawa.

The native of Cochrane followed up a 33.71 point performance in the short program with 51.63 in the free program, part of a highly competitive Junior Women's grouping at Minto.

Some of the same skaters are back in action this week, off to Thornhill for Figure Skating Boutique Summer Skate 2014. Following the two summer events, skaters will prepare for the fall campaign, with Skokie Skate in Huntville from Oct. 24-26, while the Northern Ontario sectionals return to the Garson Arena on Nov. 7-8.