by Jacquelyn Thayer
Though almost wholly comprising duos from the popular camp at CPA St. Leonard, led by coaches Bruno Marcotte and Richard Gauthier, the senior pairs event at the 2015 Quebec Summer Championships (Championnats québécois d’été) was particularly highlighted by a very strong season’s debut for Canadian bronze medalists — and World Junior silver medalists — Julianne Séguin and Charlie Bilodeau, who train under Josée Picard and Marc-Andre Craig at CPA Chambly. While a score of 58.74 had the pair finishing only third in the short program, after a fall for him on the triple salchow, a cleaner (though imperfect) free earned a strong early score of 117.74, only two points back of their mark at last season’s Nationals. And despite the error in the short, the pair’s program component score of 28.68 was exactly one point higher than that of the segment’s victors.
The team worked once again with choreographers from the ice dance world — Shae Zukiwsky and Shae-Lynn Bourne for a quirky Cirque du Soleil short, Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon for a lyrical free to “A Whiter Shade of Pale” — continuing to lend, not unexpectedly, a dance-y quality to their material. For the team who have moved full-time to the senior ranks, it’s the upgraded technical content, including a throw triple lutz, that should make the bigger impact as the season unfolds — but a distinctive approach and solid musicality should do their part to further ease the transition, with the pair assigned to Skate America and Trophée Eric Bompard on the Grand Prix.
The short program, composed of seven pairs to the long’s four, featured the overall competition’s biggest names, with Marissa Castelli and Mervin Tran capturing gold with a score of 60.68 for a strong, smooth outing of their “Summertime” program — two points back of their season debut, at July’s Skate Detroit, due to a wobble on the triple salchow. Silver belonged to recent Montreal transplants Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro, whose 59.36-point skate to Etta James’s “If I Can’t Have You” showcased an improved technical connection for the pair, with stronger lifts and throw triple loop.
Silver and bronze in the long program went to two pairs who competed in both segments. Vanessa Grenier and Maxime Deschamps, fifth place at last season’s Nationals, presented an elegant short to tango standard “Por una Cabeza,” finishing a good fourth in the segment with 52.16, while a free skate to Don Juan and Bryan Adams’ “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” maintained the Latin flair, finishing second with a score of 93.92.
The weekend was tougher for Natasha Purich and Drew Wolfe, who finished sixth in a short program to “I Put a Spell on You” with 48.84 — a fall for Purich on the triple toe and a time violation adding two deductions in addition to glitches across other elements. In the long program’s field of four, the pair made bronze with 74.48, one point ahead of new seniors Camille Ruest and Samuel Morais, but their skate to Requiem for a Dream was marked by myriad woes, including falls for both on the throw triple salchow, a miscue on side-by-side spins and an aborted final lift.
The junior pairs event at Quebec was a small one; with only five teams originally registered for the short and four for the long, the withdrawal of Sarah-Jade Latulippe and Alex Leak from both made the contest primarily one of ranking.
With gold in each segment, Justine Brasseur and Mathieu Ostiguy, set to make their Junior Grand Prix debut at Cup of Austria, continued a solid introduction to the junior circuit begun at last month’s Skate Detroit. A 48.80 for their Peter Gunn short brought all positive GOEs, while a strong performance of their Spanish-themed free, with pieces including “Aranjuez,” brought a score of 89.24, including a pair of Level 4 lifts.
Silver in the short and bronze in the free went to Lori-Ann Matte and Thierry Ferland. An energetic skate to “It’s Too Darn Hot” in the first segment earned 42.92, with a few glitches bringing a handful of negative GOEs. A free skate of 61.32 points to Glee‘s cover of Aerosmith’s “Dream On” came with a fall on the throw triple salchow and step-outs on the jump sequence. The event provided some preparation for the pair who will be competing their first-ever international in a few weeks at JGP Colorado Springs.
St. Leonard’s Naomie Boudreau and Cédric Savard moved from a 39.44-point fourth place in the short program, with an unexpected piece to Paul Anka’s take on The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside,” to silver in the free with 63.88, with a skate to “November Rain” from Guns N’ Roses — continuing that day’s rock trend — that included falls for her on the double axel and jump sequence. Bronze in the short went to their training mates, the new Japanese pair of Ami Koga and Spencer Akira Howe, whose skate to a strings rendition of the Beatles’ “Yesterday” picked up 42.62 points, with two falls for Koga making the difference from second place — though their PCS of 19.40 was the segment’s highest.
Up next, our recap of the dance events at Quebec.