Sisters skate to gold and silver

Mustangs prevail at OUA championships highlighted by twin sibling showdown

Image by: Peter Lee

The Queen’s-Western rivalry was in full swing at the OUA figure skating championships.

Queen’s took home the silver medal, leaving the Mustangs with their third consecutive provincial title.

No one experienced the Queen’s-Western competition this year like Gaels skater Elizabeth Liao, whose twin sister Christina performed for the Mustangs.

“Western was right on our tail — they were a school to look out for,” Liao said.

After topping the leader board after the first day of competition, the Gaels succumbed to the Mustangs by a final score of 100 to 88.

Over the two days at the Kingston Invista Centre, Queen’s ranked in the top three for every opening day event. They lost their footing on day two with their third-place finish in the synchro event — the final skate of the competition.

Liao’s sister Christina beat her in the gold free skate event on Tuesday, giving Elizabeth second place.

“I didn’t have my best date, but I put down a solid program,” she said. “I finished after my sister and I’m happy for her.”

Western won both the gold free skate event and the overall title, which Liao said was understandable.

“[Tuesday], we were all on the offense and we knew we were coming from behind,” she said. “[Wednesday], we were trying to find our lead and stay in the lead, so it was a different ballgame.”

With Queen’s and Western competing toe-to-toe, Liao said she and her teammates kept their progress in mind.

“I know we’re disappointed because we were so close to first, but in perspective we did so well considering we haven’t medaled at all this year in our past two competitions,” she said.

Queen’s figure skating head coach Jamie Lynn Oderkirk acknowledged the stiff competition.

“We came in fourth at the last couple of competitions, so it’s great that we did well here,” she said.

Oderkirk said hosting the competition was ideal, as the team was able to practice at the Invista Centre last week.

“It gets everyone so much more pumped,” she said. “Everyone was in the right frame of mind to stay positive, stay focused and compete well.”

As the crowd in the rink was filled with red, blue and yellow Queen’s supporters, Oderkirk said being home provided great motivation for the skaters.

“The team has been competing out of town all year so it’s great to have the support here,” she said.” It was an extra push for them.”

Tags

Christina Liao, Elizabeth Liao, Figure skating, OUA, Queen's, western mustangs

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