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, BRONZE: Zorra pair skate l to third place at nationals By LAURA GREEN for The Ingersoll Times The dream of standing on the podium to receive a medal at the Canadian Figure Skat~ ing Championships has come true for two local skaters this past week in Hamilton. Brian Innes of the Embro area and partner Kristy MacCabe of Thamesford won bronze in novice ice dance at the 1998 Bank of Montreal Canadian Figure Skating Championships this past week in Hamilton After the compulsories last Wednesday, the duo were tied for third with a couple from Quebec. But they clinched the medal the next clay, skating to the James Bond Mission Im- possible theme for the free skate event. MacCabe (Thamesford FSC) and Innes (Zorra FSC) placed second at both the Cen-- tral Canada Divisionals and the Western Ontario Sectionals. Both are 17-year» old Grade 12 students at IDCI. They have skated together for eight years and practice from 12 to 20 hours a week. They are coached by Don Cumming from London and for the last few weeks have been helped Local ?gure skaters Kristy Mac Cabe and Brian Innes won the bronze medal at the 1998 Bank of Montreal Canadian Figure Skating Championships. by coach Mari jane Strong from Toronto. Tara McCall (Thamesford FSC) and partner Jonathan Tschirhart (Woodstock FSC) ?nished 13lh in novice ice dance. This was the first year at the Canadians for the duo. who placed third at both the Central Canada Divisionals and Western Ontario Sectionals. The last time a Zorra resi- dent stood on the podium at the Canadians was back in 1992, when Paul Matheson of the Embro area won the nov- ice icc dance championship with partner Sophie Dore from the Montreal area. 5 55,1195 i'metas-i Kris MacCabe and Brian Innes are compettng at the Canaydian Figure Skating Championshipsl'or the third time this week. Last year, they were 11th In Novrce Ice Dance. 80 tar this season the pair of 17 year olds were second at both the Central Canada Divisronals and the Western Ontario Sectionals. Excellent start for MacCabe-Innes HAMILTON -- The team of Kristy MacCabe of Thamesford and Brian Innes of Embro are tied for second in Novice Ice Dance after yesterday's compulsorres at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships here: Tara Schaack and Tyler Myles of Barrie lead with 10 place- ment points, while the local entry and Catherine Perrcault and Charles Andre Perreault of Laval. Que. are locked in second at 30 Tara McCall of Kintore and the Thamesford skating club Supplied photo and Jonathan Tschirhart of Woodstock stand thh at 12.5. For more details on first-day results see today's sports scoreboard. .3 I? In. ,9 /7.5 MacCabe and Innes have 'sense of relief' and bronze medals By Mark Schadenberg STAFF WRlTER HAMILTON --Two entries hailed for winning medals at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships hail from Ox- ford County. In Novice ice Dance, Kristy MacCabe and Brian Innes won silver on Thursday. In the free dance portion to close out the competition, MacCabe of Thamesford and Innes of Embro had to skate ?rst in the last ?ight featuring the six leading couples. "After we skated all we could do was sit and watch, watch and hope," said Mac- Cabe, l7. "Finishing third was just an amazing feeling." "When we found out we were third it was a real feel- ing of relief. We realized at that second that we had reached our goal for the year so it was also astonishment," said Innes, 17. One day earlier, opening with a fifth place score in the first compulsory (Rocker Foxtrot), MacCabe and Innes were not contenders for a medal until they placed sec- ond in the next compulsory - the Blues. "After that we knew we had a chance to reach the po- dium." said Innes. "The Blues has always been one of our stronger dances." "Placing third at nationals is great because we felt we were behind the eight-ball-all year. With nationals in our home province and so close to home. we had a lot of friends and family here for support." continued Innes. Coached by London pro Don Cumming, MacCabe Innes were second at both the Western Ontario Sectionals in Woodstock and the Central Canada Divisionals. The llderton club pair ofSheri and Danny Moir were winncrs at both, but placed only eighth in Hamilton. MacCabe explained that .xi to ' r1. 7, Filo photo Kristy MacCabe and Brian lnnes won bronze at nationals in Novice Ice Dance on Thursday, they spent most of Friday at- tending seminars that covered everything from dealing with the media to a sports psy- chologist "talking about how to maximize performances." A top three finish should give the local pair another chance to compete on the in-- tcrnalional stage. Last surn- mer they competed in Minne-- sota at a novice-junior mcct featuring rising stars from both Canada and the US. One Oxford skater that has already been invited to an in- ternational competition is lie year-old Christopher Mabee ol'SpringI'ord and thc Tillson-- burg club. With his second place result in Novice Men on Friday, Mabee will be off in Slovenia in early April for the Triglav Trophy mect. Mabee wasjusl sixth after the short program on Wednes» day but leap-frogged the ?eld by winning the long program. Mabee trains in Montreal at the Two Glaccs Club and is coached by Paul Wirtz. Mabee's local coach is former Olympian Sheri Ball. who ironically skated with Kris Wirtz (Paul's brother) at the '92 Games. Kris Wirtz and Kristy Sargeant are 1998 champions in Senior Pairs. After Mabee placed fourth at divisionals. Ball commented how important his training regi- ment is. "He needs to bc at a training centre. going to school halfedays and skating with other competitive boys. With that kind or' talent. the best way to help him is to send him to the best coaches." Final rcsulls for all Oxford skaters and leading Senior competitors. appears in the sports scoreboard.