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Stott breaks the ice Stott capped a remarkable season on the ice by winning the intermediate ladies division when the Australian figure skating championships were held at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium at Warners Bay. It was the first time in Australian ice-skating's 100-year history that the national titles were held outside of a capital city. The 15-year-old competed on Monday and Tuesday, winning the short- and long-program components, which are added together to determine an overall victor in each division. Stott, who is coached by George Galanis, finished with 86.40 points, nearly five points clear of the next best competitor, Queensland's Victoria Cini (81.89 points). It was the Lake Macquarie resident's second appearance on the national stage and her first in the intermediate ladies division. She produced a clean sweep of tournaments in the past 10 months for an outstanding first season at that level of ice-skating. Stott began her intermediate ladies campaign by winning the Margaret Joynton-Smith Trophy in Newcastle last October. She then went on to be the champion in her division at the Central Coast Championship, the Penrith Ice Palace Trophy, the Autumn Trophy in Canberra and the Hollins Trophy at Canterbury. Stott picked up the NSW title at Penrith last month then completed her perfect record on the national stage. "I was pretty amazed to win and I'm pretty happy," Stott said. "I was just hoping to make it to nationals in my first year in the intermediate division." Stott is now hoping to move up a level to the novice ladies division but must pass skill tests next month to do so. Fellow Hunter skaters Brad McLachlan and Sydnee Knight also ended up on the podium during the national titles. McLachlan was the bronze medallist in the intermediate men's division and Knight was third in the novice ladies. Ashlee King, Elise Vayne, Casey Neal and Kelly Alder all recorded top-10 finishes in their divisions. |
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