Talk about a successful program.
Six skaters from the Armstrong Skating Club’s Teen/Adult program all won either gold or silver medals at the recent Kelowna SuperSeries event. It’s the first year the club has offered a teen/adult ice opportunity and Cathie Bal, Christine Turpin, Hunter Ostoforoff, Jaeda Ostoforoff, Brittaney Leupin and Amber Baryla competed under the tutelage of club coach Tannis Crerar.
“All of us skated under Tannis as children, and three of us now have our kids skating and competing under her,” said Bal, 38, who learned to skate at age two on a rink made by her dad in the family’s backyard. Bal skated with the Armstrong club from six-to-14, winning gold at her final competition, provincials, in 1995. She returned to the ice this season and won gold in Kelowna, as did her son, Mason, 12. Bal is also the treasurer of the Armstrong club.
Christine Turpin won her fourth provincial gold medal in Kelowna, moving up a level from Ladies Bronze to Ladies Silver. She is the club president who won a world skating title in 2018. Turpin, who has been skating on-and-ff since she was four, has two daughters who also skate. Her oldest, Gillian, earned gold in Kelowna as well.
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Hunter Ostoforoff, 21, started skating in Kitimat at age three, and started competing at eight after moving to the Okanagan. She made the Okanagan Regional Team in 2009, competing in skills in Surrey. In 2015, Ostoforoff removed her skates and began competing in cheerleading. She came back to skating this year, and earned a silver in the Adult Silver division in Kelowna.
Jaeda Ostoforoff, 18, has been competing since age six. While living in Saskatchewan she was chosen to be on the competitive development team, which was a big honour. Jaeda has achieved Quad Gold status meaning she has completed all four levels of Skills, Dance, Freeskate, and Interpretive. After graduating high school in 2019 and attending college she couldn’t give up figure skating and skated in the Adult Gold category where she won the gold medal at SuperSeries.
Leupin, 18, has been figure skating since she was three and competing since she was nine. In her 2018-19 skating season, Leupin achieved her quadruple golds in Dance, Freeskate, Skills and Interpretive. An Okanagan College student, Leupin competed in the Adult Gold Interpretive category in Kelowna, winning gold.
Baryla also competed in Kelowna earning silver.
Her daughter also skates under Crerar as well.
roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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