Recap

NEXXICE and Les Suprêmes to represent Canada at the WSSC 2018


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NEXXICE Senior, 2018 Canada Seniors Champions. / Credits: Sean McKinnon

On February 24, 2018, NEXXICE Senior captured their 11th Canadian title, securing their ticket with Les Suprêmes to the 2018 World Synchronized Skating Championships. 

The Tribute Communities Centre in Oshawa hosted 40 teams from across Canada this past weekend. Seven novice, 13 intermediate, 13 open, four junior and three senior teams vied to reclaim their titles. In addition to sought-after podium positions, international assignments for the 2018/2019 season were also on the line for the junior and senior division.

JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS
LIVE STREAM: Short | Free

Les Suprêmes (Saint Leonard, QC) delivered a strong Bollywood short program on Friday night (62.02), and despite a fall, they managed to edge out rivals NEXXICE (Burlington, ON) by 3.09 points. Likewise, Nova (Brossard, QC) held the slightest margin of 0.22 over Gold Ice (Brampton-Chinguacou, ON) after the short, with enough to secure the third position heading into the free.

[See the Winterfest 2018 article for full music selections]

On Saturday night, the teams skated in reverse order from the short program results. Gold Ice opened the event with a season’s best performance (130.46 total), landing them in bronze medal position. They will join Les Suprêmes and NEXXICE on the national team for the 2018/2019 season.


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Gold Ice Junior /Credits: Sean McKinnon

Despite an energetic Kill Bill-inspired free program, Nova suffered four falls and was unable to close the gap they led with after the short. 

In an unusual turn of events, there was an issue identified with the ice following Nova’s skate. For roughly 30 minutes, a group of men came to clean the ice surface along the boards by the judges; many audience members joking that the men looked like “Ghostbusters” with their water packs. Not one, but two ice cuts (or ‘floods’) later, the event resumed and Nova was allowed to reskate their program. 


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Nova skaters and their program on Kill Bill. / Credits: Sean McKinnon

You would have thought the home team was taking the ice at the World Championships, but the crowd was behind Nova, giving them the motivation to redeem themselves and end their season on a high. And they did, finishing with a total score of 125.14. 


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Nexxice Junior /Credits : Sean McKinnon

NEXXICE and Les Suprêmes closed the event with two very different programs: NEXXICE (104.48) cast a spell and Les Suprêmes (104.82) commanded the audience with their chess-inspired program — enough to take the title with 166.84 total.



SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS
LIVESTREAM: Short | Free

All three senior teams delivered clean short programs on Friday evening; a warm up for the real show on Saturday night. NEXXICE earned a season’s best score of 75.86, followed by Les Suprêmes (70.04) and Nova (69.12). 


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NOVA - free program /Credits: Sean McKinnon

NEXXICE and Les Suprêmes have proven themselves under pressure over the years, and Saturday night was no exception. After the ice debacle in the junior event, the crowd was treated to a number of exceptional performances in the senior free. Les Suprêmes earned a season’s best of 130.16 with their La La Land program, followed by NEXXICE (126.86) and Nova (119.22). Combining the short program scores, NEXXICE captured their 11th title and will be joined by Les Suprêmes at the WSSC in Sweden this coming April.



Results - TOP 3

Canadian National Championships 2018
Oshawa (CAN)
FEB 23, 2018 - FEB 25, 2018

Junior
TEAM Score
1Les Suprêmes (CAN)166.84
2Nexxice (CAN)162.60
3Gold Ice (CAN)130.46

Senior
TEAM Score
1Nexxice (CAN)202.72
2Les Suprêmes (CAN)200.20
3Nova (CAN)188.34

Novice A
TEAM Score
1Nova (CAN)111.21
2Nexxice (CAN)110.69
3Les Suprêmes (CAN)104.85

Intermediate
TEAM Score
1Meraki (CAN)111.32
2Nexxice (CAN)105.01
3Les Rythmiks de Lanaudière (CAN)104.33

Open
TEAM Score
1Nexxice (CAN)156.14
2Les Suprêmes (CAN)139.66
3Gold Ice (CAN)132.34