Whitefish figure skaters pick up medals at three sanctioned events

Members of the Whitefish Figure Skating Club competed in three different sanctioned events the last three weekends in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Billings and Spokane.

At the Canadian Skating Association's Cranbrook competition on Feb. 19, Kyla Roy garnered a sixth place in the Junior Bronze Free Skate program and a first place in the Elements event featuring required moves. Emma Marchetti took home a fifth place out of 12 skaters for her Pre-preliminary Free Skate program set to music.

Roy was the only Whitefish club skater in Billings for the Future Championships Series Feb. 26-27. She earned two silver medals for her solid performances in the Intermediate Short and Long programs.

In the levels above Intermediate (Novice, Junior and Senior), these events are normally combined to give the skater one score. Roy also added a third place finish to her tally in the Intermediate Spins event.

Six skaters were in Spokane March 4-5 to compete on an outdoor rink at Skate at the Park.

Michelle Maddock grabbed a gold medal in the Pre-Juvenile Free Skate and Collette Maddock took silver in the morning's event.

Later that day, the two switched places in the Artistic event, with Collette taking the gold and Michelle the silver at the Pre-Juvenile level.

One level down, in Preliminary, Perrey Sobba took home a gold for her Artistic performance with Abby Motes-Conners and Madison Grady right behind her in second and third, respectively.

In the Compulsory event, requiring a routine of specific elements without music, Motes-Conners skated to a silver medal with Sobba close behind in third and Grady hanging on for sixth.

Grady however, had the best finish in the Free Skate event, gliding and jumping to a fifth place out of 10 skaters. Motes-Conners finished eighth and Sobba 10th.

Madison Grady was also awarded the Artistry Trophy for her performance in this same Free Skate event, demonstrating the best overall interpretation of her chosen music.

Alexandra Moe took gold medal honors in her non-test level Free Skate, beating out five other skaters. She also won a silver medal for her performance against the book in the non-test Artistic event.

Eight members of the Whitefish club travel to Jackson, Wyo., to compete in the largest regional competition in the Northern Rockies, today through Sunday. Over 225 skaters from Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Nevada Wyoming, Montana and Alaska are expected to attend.