On Nov. 1, Bracebridge Skating Club members Katherine Malcolm, 17, and Niki White, 15, both qualified in the novice ladies competitive division at the Skate Canada Northern Ontario Sectionals in Thunder Bay.

Malcolm advances to the Western Challenge Cup on her way to nationals and White moves on to the Ontario Trillium Cup provincial competition.

A veteran novice competitor, Malcolm had an amazing performance in what is considered the premier competition of the weekend event. She delivered two solid but stressful skating programs, placing fifth in the compulsory program and a tight third in the freeskate in a field of highly skilled and talented skaters.

Malcolm has been skating for Bracebridge for 10 years, in both singles and synchronized skating. Her hours of training with Michelle Leigh at the Mariposa School of Skating & National Training Centre in Barrie have been very rewarding.

Malcolm was the defending northern Ontario novice champion from 2007 and a tremendous amount of pressure was riding on her shoulders. Although her compulsory program contained a triple/double salchow jump combination, she wasn’t able to complete the double rotation, which resulted in a downgrade of her program that moved her away from the gold medal.

However, her growing maturity and mental focus allowed her to skate a clean and impressive freeskate on Saturday that pulled her within 0.6 points of the bronze medal and qualified her for Western Challenge. She was the only skater to attempt and land a triple jump all weekend.

For the second year in a row, Malcolm will join the top three northern Ontario novice competitive teammates to represent the section at Skate Canada Western Challenge, to take place in Mississauga Dec. 3-7. Known to longtime skating fans as “divisionals,” Western Challenge encompasses skaters from northern Ontario, western Ontario and all the western provinces and territories. It is the stepping-stone to the Junior National Championships in Calgary on Feb. 11-14. Eight skaters from Western Canada will qualify to compete against 12 skaters from Eastern Canada.

White also competed for Bracebridge at Thunder Bay in the novice ladies division. This is White’s first season at the novice level and although she found the competition stressful, she worked through the event like a seasoned professional, placing eighth in the compulsory skate and sixth in the freeskate, with an overall placing of seventh.

White’s standing won her a berth on the northern Ontario team that will advance to the Ontario Trillium Cup in Kitchener on March 14, 2009. The Trillium Cup is a provincial level event that alternates years with Ontario Winter Games. Novice skaters placing first to seventh at sectionals qualify for these events.

In the past, Bracebridge has had two members qualify for the Ontario Winter Games but none for the Trillium Cup.

Malcolm and White train year-round and have been in several competitions already this season. Malcolm’s competition circuit has included Ottawa’s Autumn Skate (sixth), Thornhill’s Summer Skate (seventh) and Barrie’s Oktoberfest (third).

White has also been making the rounds to skating events, competing at Oktoberfest (eighth) and Huntsville’s Skokie Skate (third in compulsory and fourth in freeskate).

In the club’s 74-year history, Malcolm is the only skater to advance to Western Challenge in ladies singles two years in a row. As well, she is the only club skater to win a sectional title in a singles event.

Bracebridge skater Tamiko Uyeda has advanced to the national level four times, but in pair’s ice dancing. Uyeda is on hiatus this season due to injuries.

The Bracebridge Skating Club is very proud of Katherine Malcolm and Niki White, and is certain they will be gracious representatives of the Bracebridge community.