Lochhead and Olivia Han are currently Canadian Novice Ice Dance champions
ISU Grand Prix series is a prestigious assignment from Skate Canada
By
Mark Schadenberg
Grayson
Lochhead is a Canadian figure skating champion from Sweaburg and with the
results attained by himself and partner Olivia Han, and hours upon hours upon
hours of honing their routines, the Junior Dance team is climbing the national
rankings and will compete for Canada in the Junior ISU Grand Prix series in Yokohama,
Japan, Sept. 7-11.
Lochhead
and Han won the Canadian Novice Dance titles for 2016 in Halifax back in
January, and therefore obviously move up an age category to Junior this season
and have been assigned by Skate Canada to the prestigious meet in Japan.
Lochhead
and Han had earned Silver in 2015 in Pre-Novice, so vaulting up to Gold in
Novice in just one season is very impressive. At the nationals – representing the
Kitchener-Waterloo skating club -- they were in second place after the first
dance (Starlight Waltz), and again second place in their next routine
(Argentine Tango), and were placed second in their free dance but behind a
different team to move up to first place overall, beating a Quebec pair by just
over 1.0 points. To watch this duo in action – see the YouTube link below.
Lochhead and Han won Novice Ice Dance title earlier in 2016
Individuals & Teams to represent Canada in Japan
Links
to a Woodstock Sentinel-Review story are included here, but Lochhead’s
dedication to skating and school simultaneously has led this talented skater to
leave CASS high school in Woodstock for Bluevale Collegiate in Kitchener. The
ice dancers are coached by Paul MacIntosh, who has had a long list of successes
as a coach (Katelyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, plus previous top results with Scott
Moir and Tessa Virtue) and skater himself.
The
Han – Lochhead combination found success immediately by winning the 2015
Pre-Novice title at the Western Ontario Sectionals. Han, who was born in South
Korea, is just 14 years old, while Lochhead is 17.
The
road to the Senior Ice Dance level is the ultimate goal, and then hopefully the
Winter Olympics.
Lochhead
follows in the skate steps of many accomplished Oxford competitors over the
past 50 years including Tyler Morris, Suzanne Killing, Scott Grover, Julie Kivinen,
Paul Matheson, Martin Smith, Ross Garner, Lana Sherman, Chris Mabee and many
others.
Today,
for example, Kivinen is a coach in Langley, B.C. The daughter of Marie and Larry
Bowerman, and according to archived results available online, was 3rd in 1975 in Junior Ladies and 2nd in Novice Ladies in 1973.
Grover
now teaches at the famed Mariposa club in Barrie, and was a Junior Pairs national
champion in 1984 with Penny Schultz.
As
recently as 2009, Morris and Carolyn MacCuish won national Gold in Novice Ice
dance.
LINKS:
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2016/02/16/grayson-lochhead-becomes-woodstocks-first-figure-skating-national-gold-medalist
Mark Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior Real Estate Specialist
(SRES designation)
Royal LePage Triland Realty
Independently Owned & Operated, Brokerage
757 Dundas St, Woodstock
(519) 537-1553, cell or text
Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter: markroyallepage
Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . .
Destination
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