Canadian Nationals: Ladies Preview

Canada has 3 spots at Four Continents and 2 spots at the World Championships.

Cynthia Phaneuf is looking to win her first national title since 2004.  She finished 4th at both of her Grand Prix assignments but has struggled with consistency.  She was in the lead after the short program at Skate Canada but mistakes in her free skate dropped her off the podium.  This is probably still her event to lose, but she faces competition and will need to skate clean.

Fighting for the top spot will be Amelie Lacoste, the only Canadian lady to medal at the Grand Prix this season.  She wasn't able to repeat this at Skate America, but still finished a respectable 5th.  She knows how to capitalize when other ladies make errors and I could see her slipping into 1st if Phaneuf has problems.

The third podium spot will likely go to Myriane Samson who has had a good season on the Grand Prix, breaking her own personal best scores at both competitions.

Vanessa Grenier, Alexandra Najarro, and Adriana DeSanctis took home the medals from Challenge.  Their scores were all close but they didn't have a huge lead over the rest of the pack.  Kate Charbonneau could also impress but she has not been the most consistent in her results.  Jessica Dube is also competing here due to the injury to Bryce Davison that ended their season.  With additional practice on her jumps and programs I could see her moving up a few spots here, but jumps have been her struggle in pairs over the last few seasons and she is attempting jumps she hasn't executed in years.

The skaters in reverse qualification order:

Daniela-Bella Favot: She qualified with a 15th place finish at Challenge.  She finished 11th at nationals last season.

Karine Chevrier: She qualified with a 14th place finish at Challenge.

Jessica-Amy Sergeant: She qualified with a 13th place finish at Challenge.

Kelsey McNeil: She qualified with a 12th place finish at Challenge.

Sarah Jourdain: She qualified with an 11th place finish at Challenge.

Jacqueline Lenuik: She qualified with a 10th place finish at Challenge.

Izabel Valiquette: She qualified with a 9th place finish at Challenge.  She finished 12th at nationals last season.

Rylie McCulloch-Casarsa: She finished 9th at her last international assignment, JGP Lake Placid 2009.  She qualified with an 8th place finish at Challenge.  She finished 9th at nationals last season.

Jessica Dube: Dube competed at the Olympics and World Championships with her partner Bryce Davison.  She qualified with a 7th place finish at Challenge.  She won gold in Pairs at nationals last season.

Devon Neuls: She qualified with a 6th place finish at Challenge.

Kate Charbonneau: Charbonneau finished 6th at the World Junior Championships with personal best scores across the board.  She finished 15th at JGP Cup of Austria and 13th at Pokal der Blauen.  She is the 2009 junior national champion.  She qualified with a 5th place finish at Challenge.  She finished 7th at nationals last season.

Dallas Daniel:  She qualified with a 4th place finish at Challenge.  She finished 10th at nationals last season.

Adriana DeSanctis: She qualified with a 3rd place finish at Challenge.  She finished 6th at nationals last season.

Alexandra Najarro: Najarro finished 10th at JGP Brasov Cup and 7th at the J. Curry Memorial.  She qualified with a 2nd place finish at Challenge.  She finished 15th at nationals last season.

Vanessa Grenier: She finished 12th at JGP Courcheval.  She qualified with a 1st place finish at Challenge.  Her highest finish at nationals was last season when she placed 8th.

Amelie Lacoste: Lacoste placed 7th at Four Continents.  She won bronze at Skate Canada with personal best scores across the board and 5th at Skate America.  She is the 2005 junior national champion and the 2009 national bronze medalist.  She finished 5th at nationals last season.

Myriane Samson: Samson finished 29th at the World Championships and 8th at Four Continents.  She finished 7th at Skate Canada earlier this season with personal best scores across the board and 8th at Cup of Russia with a personal best free skate.  Her best finish at nationals was last season when she won bronze.

Cynthia Phaneuf: Phaneuf finished 12th at the Olympics and 5th at Worlds with a personal best free skate and total score.  She is the 2004 Four Continents silver medalist.  She finished 4th at Skate Canada and Trophee Eric Bompard.  She is the 2004 national champion; 2005, 2009 and 2010 national silver medalist; and 2008 national bronze medalist.