Sakura Nakahara-Denton captured gold while Geerthana and Savina Somas both cracked the top five at the penultimate figure skating competition of the season.
Facing off against some of the best skaters in Western Canada at the Sunsational Competition at the Ice Palace in Edmonton, Nakahara-Denton led the Canmore Skating Club with a gold medal in the senior bronze competition.
“I’ve been wanting to finish with a strong program to end the season,” Nakahara-Denton said. “I really thought about keeping my upper body still, keeping calm and not freaking out about it and staying in the moment.”
The gold medal came in her first year at the senior bronze level, and third competition of the season to cap off a successful year. Nakahara-Denton, who has trained with the Canmore Skating Club since she was five, overcame nerves to clinch the title. Her knee was aching heading into the competition, but a good warmup with coach Cynthia Ullmark put her at ease.
“I have two double sow and a double toe jump in my program. I’ve had trouble with the double sow a little bit, but I landed them in warmup and in the program, so I’m really excited,” Nakahara-Denton said. “The first competition of the year didn’t go so well, but my coaches told me to stay calm and think of my key words, and that’s what I did.”
The win has her hungry for more success, which has kept her in the sport for so many years.
“I just love when you land a jump, do a good spin or pass a test, you have that good feeling that I accomplished something. It feels good,” Nakahara-Denton said.
Geerthana Somas, 16, finished second in the long program and fourth in the short program, working through a new program at the novice level. She’s added a double axel and triple sow jump to her repertoire, and will continue to add more triple jumps as she improves her strength and stamina.
“My speed is improving and I’m adding harder jumps,” Somas said. “I like the music with my new program (from the ballet Le Bayadere). It’s fast, but it has a few slow parts. I just have to do it over and over and over.”
Savina Somas also finished fourth in her category, which was another strong result for the club.
Several Bow Valley athletes also attended the meet and put on excellent performances, including Lisa du Plessis, Taylor Gammon, Lucie Laferriere, Seth Perez, Anika Rufner, Paige and Cassidy Domenico.
