Skaters and Okotoks shine at STARSkate

Figrue Skating: Veterans skip big meet to focus on hometown event

Cole Christenen/OWW

Jenaya Niessen of the Okotoks Skating club performs her free skate in the Bronze Triathlon on Sunday at the Alberta STARSkate championships. The four-day event was held at the Okotoks Recreation Centre and featured over 740 skaters from across the province.

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It was a big weekend for members of the Okotoks Skating Club at the Alberta STARSkate championships.

Hometown skaters picked up four medals in competition over the four-day event, which was held on their home turf at the Okotoks Recreation Centre.

“Having the support behind us was really awesome,” said Shelby Postlewaite, a Grade 11 competitor from Foothills Composite High School.

Featuring more than 700 skaters from across the province, the Alberta STARSkate championships had 30 Okotoks skaters registered for competition.

The event itself was so important to Postlewaite, and fellow 16-year old club member Sarah Nelson, the two bypassed higher-level events just for the thrill of performing in front of a home crowd.

“We both bypassed sectionals so we could stay at home here,” Postlewaite explained. “We wanted to participate and get the hometown crowd, it’s just really exciting for us.”

Buoyed by her contingent of supporters, Postlewaite managed to take home the gold medal in the prestigious Gold Triathlon event.

Both Postlewaite and Nelson competed in the highest level of the triathlon, which consisted of a three separate skates (interpretive, skills and free skate).

Going into Saturday’s free skate, Postlewaite was entrenched in second place — a full 4.5 points behind the leader.

However, an impressive routine and execution launched her into first place on the final day.

“(Sunday) was just my day,” Postlewaite said.

Nelson took the more eventful road to the medals.

After nailing the skills portion, the Foothills Composite student was supposed to skate her much-practiced interpretive routine for the judges.

However, she inadvertently forgot to bring the music for her routine. Instead, Nelson accidently brought her music from last year’s STARSkate championship — which she only learned as she was standing at centre ice to begin her skate.

“I had no idea, I thought that it was this year’s program,” she recalled. “I hear the music and I go, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s last year’s program.’”

The judges presented Nelson with two options; skate this year’s routine with last year’s music or try and remember her 2010 interpretive program.

She chose the latter.

“I tried to remember as much as I possibly could, which wasn’t much,” she said.

Despite having been a year removed from that routine, Nelson still came out an impressive third place in the interpretive portion.

In addition to her other skates, her remarkable improvisation landed her third-place in the Gold Triathlon.

“I was so, so shocked,” she said with a laugh.

The medals continued to roll in for the OSC throughout the day on Sunday.

Okotoks’ Kelsey Kosiorek grabbed a silver medal in the bronze triathlon in her first official try at the event.

The Grade 8 student from John Paul II Collegiate said that her achievement was a product of hard work.

“I worked very hard every session, came on early (and) got off late,” she said.

“I don’t really get nervous, I find if I’ve done my job on practicing, I can do it in front of the judges.”

Holy Trinity Academy’s Miranda VanHeyst skated two flawless routines on her way to a bronze medal in the Silver Triathlon.

After finishing in first place during the skills portion, VanHeyst grabbed third place in both the interpretive and free skate.

Like Kosiorek, VanHeyst was not nervous heading into the competition.

With so much practice and training, her program has almost become second nature by the time the STARSkate rolled around.

“I skate five times a week,” the Grade 11 skater said. “I don’t really get nervous any more.”

christensen@okotoks.greatwest.ca