Well Nationals are over for another year. Congratulations to all the competitors who made the competition so memorable and to the officials who worked so hard to make the competition happen and to all the parents and supporters who were there day after day supporting the skaters in some very trying conditions ..... yes especially the day that made it to 40 degrees (although to anyone in the stadium it felt like 50 degrees surely!!)

This years Nationals produced some great performances and some equally fabulous results. Congratulations to all the medalists, all the winners and to all who took part and put on their best displays.

Great to see the Tiny Tot field with 4 contestants this year. They put on a great display of freeskating with Genneth Washer from Hawera winning the Tiny Tot girls title from Dylan Cassidy-Perry of Mt Wellington and Keaton Swindells of Hamilton edging out Zyean Cutler of Cambridge for the Tiny Tot Boys title. These youngsters were all competing in their first National Championships and we hope to see you in many more.

This years Primary grade was a really closely fought grade with little separating the skaters and some fantastic competition all round. They had one of the new events this year with the introduction of Primary solo dance and that proved to be a popular grade as well. In the Primary figures Katelyn Kennedy (Upper Hutt) skated a polished performance to take the title from Frances Allen (MSSC) silver and Pheonix Reid (MSSC) bronze. In the freeskating however the judges had a really tough decision with Pheonix Reid (MSSC) eventually coming out on top for the gold medal with Frances Allen (MSSC) taking silver and Mercedes Carrascosa (Mt Wellington) the bronze. In the solo dance event Katelyn Kennedy took her 2nd gold medal with Pheonix Reid capping off a very successful Nationals taking silver and Frances Allen the bronze.

Good to see that even though the Juvenile grade was small this year the standard of competition was high. Grace Washer of Hawera won the Girls Figure title from her team mate Brooker Fuller with a very polished performance. In the freeskating Stevey-Lee Dawson (MSSC) stepped up to win gold with Grace taking the silver medal and Brooke the bronze. Andrew Mercer (MSSC) won the Juvenile Boys freeskating title. Great to see a young lad in there competing in free. Well done Andrew. In the solo dance event last years winner Mercedes Carrascosa (MtW) gained the gold edging out Andrew Mercer (MSSC) who took home the silver.

Elementary was a hotly contested grade this year. In the girls figures Chelsea Snow (Hawera) put together a nice set of consistent figures to take the title from Tara Westwood (MSSC) silver and Kyra Thomson (Upper HUtt) bronze. It was the same placings in the Elementary Loop event with Chelsea taking gold, Tara silver and Kyra bronze. In the freeskating fortunes were reversed with Kyra taking out the title over Chelsea who took the silver with Nina Donkin (MSSC) a well deserved bronze medal. In the solo dance event Kyra showed her strength with a very polished performance for such a small skater winning the gold from team mate Grace Cooper (silver) and Brittany Griffith (Nelson) the bronze. In the Creative Solo Dance Tara Westwood (MSSC) gave a lively performance to Hit the road Jack to win the gold from Kyra (silver and newcomer Sarah Mays (Auckland Waitakere) who took the bronze. In the Junior Inline event Tara won the gold medal from Nicole with Rosie Carter (Upper Hutt) bronze.  Kyra followed all this up taking home the coveted Jack Fanthorpe Junior Oscar for the best performance by a skater Cadet level and under at the special awards on Saturday night. Well done.

The Novice grades have been well contested since they were re-introduced at National level several years ago and have been a great platform from which many skaters have started their skating careers. This years Novice grade are no exception and there was some strong competition out there. In the ladies figures Holly Paterson (Upper Hutt) won the gold medal from Katelyn Bishop (Auckland Waitakere) the silver and Hollys sister Susan Paterson (Upper Hutt) with the bronze. Kenneth Hird (Upper Hutt) won the Novice Mens figures with a great performance. In the freeskating newcomer Corrie Phelan (Rollerland) took the gold medal from Samantha Whitham (silver) and Susan Paterson (bronze) both from Upper Hutt. The solo dance was a very close event. Kenneth Hird (Upper Hutt) gained his 2nd gold medal winning the event from team mate Susan Paterson (silver) and Madison Collis in her first Nationals (Auckland Waitakere) gaining the bronze. Brand new event this year Novice dance pairs saw the entry of 4 dance couples all from Upper Hutt. What is their secret and where have all these boys come from??? Peter Walker and Angela Pratt won the day taking the gold from Kenneth Hird and Holly Paterson and Matt Cooper and Kyra Thomson gaining the bronze.

The Youth grade is the next step up from Novice. For most of these skaters this is only their 2nd National championships. Its a quite a big step and all the skaters this year handled this step extremely well and there was some fantastic competition among them. In the Youth figures Grace Cooper from Upper Hutt took the title just edging out Danelle Mercer of MSSC with Kylie Johnstone of Hastings taking the bronze. In the freeskating Rosie Carter (Upper Hutt) took the gold from team mate Grace Cooper (silver) and newcomer Haruko Nam (Nelson) the bronze. In the solo dance event Peter Walker (Upper Hutt) won out taking the title from Holly Paterson (Upper Hutt) silver and Rosie Carter (Upper Hutt) bronze making it a 1,2,3 for Upper Hutt. Youth mini Precision was won by Jazzmatazz of Nelson with Cheer Chics (Upper Hutt) 2nd and Technogirls (MtW) in 3rd. Well done guys.

The Intermediate grade had some big numbers in it this year and some fierce competition. Simone Hollier (Auckland Waitakere) gave an extremely polished performance to win the Ladies figure title from Louise Blackbourn (Nelson) silver and Alana Caunter (Nelson) bronze. In the freeskating it was the turn of Nicole Silver (MSSC) to give a stand out performance taking the gold medal from team mate Clea Molano (silver) with Simone Hollier the bronze. In the Solo Dance event it was the turn of Upper Hutt's William Cooper to take away the gold medal from his team mate Vanessa Bowden (silver) and Angela Pratt (bronze) completed the 1,2,3 for Upper Hutt. In the Creative Solo Dance Angela Pratt gave a spirited performance to take the title from team mate Vanessa Bowden (silver) and Louise Blackbourn (Nelson) bronze. Fantastic  events people.

It was great to see this year some more skaters in both the Classic grade and also in the new Esquire grade. Raewyn Hailes (Upper Hutt) continued her winning way in the Classic Ladies figures with a very polished performance this year. This year there were to be 3 contestants in Classic solo dance but with the unfortunate withdrawal of one skater at the last minute due to injury they were down to 2. Raewyn won her 2nd gold medal taking this event from Cristal Beardsley (Graden City). In the Creative Solo Dance Cristal gave a great performance of a tango to take the gold medal. Well done ladies. In the new Esquire grades Val Bedford (New Plymouth) won the Ladies Figures and Alan Thomson (Upper Hutt) another one of those skating dads giving it a go won the Esquire Mens Figure title competing in his first Nationals.

Onto the international grades. As always there is great competition in the Cadet grades and it is very hotly contested. In the ladies Figures this year it was the turn of Emma Hazelwood (Upper Hutt) to win the title with a consistent performance from Annelise De Cleene (MSSC) silver and Kate Spencer (MSSC) bronze. These ladies went on to compete also in loop events with Annelise winning the Open loop event from Kate (silver) and Nicole Silver (MSSC) bronze and Courtney Snow (Hawera) winning the Advanced loop event from Emma (silver) with Salome Molano (MSSC) bronze. In the freeskating Kate gave a very polished performance to blitz the field and win the gold from a hugely improved Salome (silver) and Nika Thomson (Upper Hutt) the bronze.  In the Solo Dance event Macarena Carrascosa (MtW) showed her class winning both the Solo Dance event and also the Creative Solo Dance event with a lively and spirited performance from Annelise De Cleene (MSSC) who took silver in both events. In the solo dance event Kelsi Linney (Upper Hutt) had the bronze and in the Creative Solo Dance event it was the turn of Anna Harris (MtW) for the bronze medal. Well done ladies.

Junior World Team members Alyssa Longville and Samantha Reason recently returned from the World Championships in Taiwan were too strong in the Junior Ladies Figure event and easily took gold and silver although it was not until the very last figure that it was apparant who would win. In the end it was Alyssa who won the title from Samantha by the narrowest of margins. Both girls skate for Auckland Waitakere. Emma Patrick (Upper Hutt) gave a great performance for the bronze and showed she is ready to step up as these girls both move out to Senior this year. In the Junior Ladies Freeskating a huge tussle was had by all 3 girls in the event with Samantha Cavanagh (MSSC) eventually coming from 2nd after the short programme to win the gold from Emma Patrick who had to settle for silver and Rochelle Putt (Hawera) who took the gold. In the Junior Solo Dance event Alyssa and Samantha showed their class winning gold and silver respectively with a fantastic skate by a greatly improved Salome Molano (MSSC) saw her step up for the bronze medal. In the dance pairs Emma Patrick teamed up with William Cooper (Upper Hutt) to do a nice job winning the Junior Dance Pairs and Freedance Pairs grade.  Next years Junior grade should be a very interesting and close fought competition.

The Senior grade as expected was dominated by our top Artistic skater Sarah-Jane Jones (Upper Hutt) returning from a top performance at the World Championships in Taiwan that saw her selected to return to compete in the World Games in 2009. She didn't disappoint. In the Senior figures she won the event with a classy performance. Freyja Phillips (MSSC) gave a vastly improved performance to secure the silver and her team mate Mareta Conroy also turned on a much improved performance to gain the bronze. In the freeskating Sarah-Jane had an uncharacteristic fall in the short programme but followed up with a great long to secure the Senior Ladies title again this year. Newcomer to the Senior grade this year Samantha Reason (Auckland Waitakere) skated a superb short to set her up gaining the silver with another newcomer Alyssa Longville (Auckland Waitakere) grabbing the bronze. In the solo dance event Renee Mouat (MtW) was leading this years World team member Rachel Melrose (Rollerland) after the compulsories but a strong entertaining performance by Rachel in the freedance saw her sneak in front of Renee to take the overall title. Renee had to settle for silver with Kerrie Osten (Rollerland) bronze. In her final skate in the Inline events Sarah-Jane took the title with a great performance from a vastly improved Laura McKenzie (Upper Hutt) and Nika Thomson (Upper Hutt) bronze. Senior Mini Precision was won by The Turn balds (Rollerland from Irna (Auckland Waitakere) and Ally Mayo (Upper HUtt) the bronze.

As usual the Masters events are hotly contested and this year was no exception. This year saw the return of Linsay Grant (Hastings) to competitive skating and she and Trudy Pocock (Cambridge) tussled it out in the Masters Ladies Figures. Linsay eventually gaining the gold from Trudy with Paula Boulcott a closely fought 3rd taking the bronze medal. In the mens event it was even closer with Basil Jones eventually coming out on top as the winner from Roger Boulcott with newcomer Lance Bridges from Hastings taking the bronze medal. In the solo dance event Linsay gave a polished performance to secure the gold from Basil Jones (Upper Hutt) and Estelle Swaney (Rollerland) the bronze and in the Creative Solo Dance Linsay took her 3rd gold of the championships when she beat out fellow competitors Estelle (silver) and Basil (bronze).  In the Dance Pairs Linsay teamed up with Lance to win the gold from a much improved Roger and Paula Boulcott. Well done guys.

In the Special Awards
Joe Bright Trainers Trophy - Imelda Coleman
Italian Trophy - Sarah-Jane Jones
Avis Berry Trophy - Sarah-Jane Jones
Ian Mackie Memorial Trophy - Alyssa Longville
Jack Fanthorpe Memorial Fund - Sarah-Jane Jones
Joe Bright Trophy for services to Precision - Leanne Raffles
Club with most Precision points - Mt Wellington
Club with most Artistic points - Upper Hutt