As soon as his skates hit the ice after his final jump, Benjam Papp knew the provincial crown would soon be his.
Papp claimed the pre-novice boys B.C. title at the Skate Canada B.C./Yukon sectionals earlier this month in Richmond.
He is one of a trio of Tri-City skaters have earned the right to display their skills on a national stage, joining Larissa Horobec, and Brianna Delmaestro at the Skate Canada Challenge Dec. 4-8 in Regina, Sask.
"My short was my best short that I've ever done I think because I got a new high score: 30 points, which I was shocked by," the 14-year-old said of his routine at the sectionals.
Papp said his coach Bruno Delmaestro put in a second double axel into his routine and they had been experimenting with different levels for his spins.
"I had a really good session before the six-minute so I was already in the competition mood. I was just, like, ready to go," said the Coquitlam Figure Skating Club member.
"It just felt like I was on top of the world when I landed my second double axel and that last lutz. I was like oh wow, this is good."
Delmaestro said the plan for the upcoming challenge is simple.
"Just like anybody else, he needs two solid skates. That's the bottom line," said Delmaestro. "Nowadays in our sport you can't afford to make mistakes. You have to be clean and strong."
But the coach isn't content to just repeat the routine that blew away the competition at the sectionals.
"You're trying to make your spins faster, make your footwork better, you're trying to get a more difficult jump so this year he's nailing the double axle and he's pretty close to a triple sowkow," said Delmaestro.
"Now we're working towards getting that in the program. If it gets better in the next two weeks that will be in the program, otherwise we'll have to go from there."
This will be Papp's second trip to the Skate Canada Challenge, walking away with 12th place last year.
"Last year I just went for the experience and this year I'm going there to win," said Papp.
Horobec finished fourth in senior women at the sectionals where she also won the Edward S. Barton Memorial Musicality Award.
"How she performs and interprets the music is her biggest strength at the moment," said Zdenek Pazdirek, who has coached Horobec since she was five or six. "She's my baby."
The Coquitlam Skating Club member had to battle through adversity at the sectional championships.
"Unfortunately, I am battling a hip injury which has been frustrating to deal with throughout my training.This injury seems to affect my jumps the most, but I made sure I pushed through it to earn a spot on the B.C. team going to Skate Canada Challenge next month," said the 16-year-old.
Horobec was thrilled to win the Edward S. Barton Musicality Award, giving credit to her choreographer Mark Pillay. But the highlight of the sectionals came after her long program in the "kiss and cry" area, "When it was announced that my score was high enough to make the B.C. team going to Skate Canada Challenge, it was such a relief to know that all my hard work had paid off."
But Horobec still has her work cut out for her preparing for the challenge in Regina.
"Those little injuries are preventing her from practising those difficult jumps. Because if you are not completely healthy those triple jumps are far too difficult to practise," said Pazdirek.
To help her practise some of her more difficult jumps, Pazdirek has rigged up a harness that allows him to ease her into her landings.
He said it is often the simple things that can be the difference at competitions.
"The goal should be simply focusing on improving what she's doing and be able to do it in the competition better. Don't make little mistakes where they deduct points in the jumps that you can do."
Brianna Delmaestro earned her spot in the ice dance competition at the Skate Canada Challenge with a pair of fifth place finishes on the junior grand prix circuit in Europe earlier this year.
"It's been really good for our first year skating together," said the 18-year-old Coquitlam skater who partners with Timothy Lum of Burnaby.
"I really like the performance aspect and skating skills in singles and that's basically what dance was," said Delmaestro, who made the switch to ice dance about 18 months ago. "I learned to skate with a partner and I really love it."
Despite less than two years of ice dance under her belt, Delmaestro finished second in Canada last year as a novice and has already represented her country eight times, cracking the top 20 in world rankings.
"I'm pretty impressed," said father Bruno, who coached Brianna before she made the switch to ice dance. "If you can skate and you have musicality and you can perform you can make an easy transition but you have to be able to skate."
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