Cynthia Phaneuf Claims Second Canadian Title

AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward

Coach Annie Barabe and Cynthia Phaneuf celebrate her second Canadian title.

In a lesson in perseverence Cynthia Phaneuf won her second Canadian champion on Saturday afternoon, seven years after her first title, rebounding from years of injuries and dramatic growth spurts that would have ended the career of lesser-determined athletes.

"Finally, finally, finally,” Phaneuf said moments after regaining the ladies title.

Myriane Samson rebounded from a fall in the short program that left her in fourth place to pull up to a silver medal. Her finish landed her a spot on the world team for the second year in a row; she finished 29th in 2010, as a replacement for Joannie Rochette. Amelie LaCoste finished third for the second Canadians bronze medal of her career, and Alejandra Navarro fell to fourth.

2011 Canadian Championships Senior Ladies Final Results

1 Cynthia Phaneuf QC 60.77 111.55 172.32
2 Myriane Samson QC 49.75 108.07 157.82
3 Amelie Lacoste QC 50.86 100.86 151.72
4 Alexandra Najarro CO 52.12 95.26 147.38
5 Adriana DeSanctis CO 47.81 96.42 144.23
6 Jessica Dube QC 48.81 82.09 130.90
7 Vanessa Grenier QC 44.13 85.80 129.93
8 Dallas Daniel AB/NT/NU 38.99 90.68 129.67
9 Kate Charbonneau MB 38.61 81.89 120.50
10 Sarah Jourdain QC 45.69 70.23 115.92
11 Devon Neuls BC/YT 37.92 77.01 114.93
12 Kelsey McNeil NB 34.52 75.40 109.92
13 Rylie McCulloch-Casarsa WO 38.61 68.59 107.20
14 Jessica-Amy Sergeant AB/NT/NU 36.05 70.73 106.78
15 Izabel Valiquette QC 35.62 69.09 104.71
16 Daniela-Bella Favot WO 33.97 65.08 99.05
17 Karine Chevrier QC 36.57 61.13 97.70
18 Jacqueline Lenuik BC/YT 33.36 56.06 89.42

Who is Alexandra Najarro?

Darren Stone, Victoria Times Colonist

Alexandra Najarro surprised many yesterday when she placed second in the ladies short program at the 2011 Canadian Figure Skating Championships. She may have even stunned herself. The petite teenager was already on a bus heading back to the competitors' hotel when she was dragged off of it to answer reporters' questions. "I'm new to all this," she apologized.

With a clean short program skate under her belt, triple toe-double toe combination, triple flip and double axel, Najarro lingers only behind Cynthia Phaneuf heading into today's long program. Although the young skater may now find herself heading to Tokyo, Japan in March as part of Canada's World team, she maintains that a trip to junior worlds would be thrilling enough.

Truth is, Najarro is already a seasoned skater on the international level, having spent three years on the junior grand prix circuit with her highest finish, a 5th place, at the 2008 John Curry Memorial. She placed 15th in the senior ladies division at the 2010 Canadians.

Here are some quick facts on Najarro.

She hails from Vaghan, Ontario.

17-year-old Najarro began skating at the age of five.

She will skate to Raul di Blasio's Otonal in today's free skate.

Short Program music: Tritsch Tratsch Plka by Johann Strauss with Second Waltz by Andre Rieu

'80s skating phenom Tracey Wainman coaches Najarro.

Choreographers: Shae-Lynn Bourne and Myke Gillman.

The teen attends a French immersion high school.

She played a small role in the Disney's Ice Princess film as Snowplow Sam.

Cynthia Phaneuf Halfway to Second Canadian Championship

Coach Annie Barabe and student

Cynthia Phaneuf celebrate a great short program

Reuters/Andy Clark

"When I came here I didn't hide myself from it. I said it openly. I'm here to win, and I'm not going to say that I want to skate well and be proud when I get off the ice. I want to go home and have the gold around my neck, and I know what I have to do to have the medal."

- Cynthia Phaneuf - January 21, 2010 - Post-Short Program

It's refreshing to see a female skater with a healthy and openly competitive attitude.

The final skater of the evening, Cynthia Phaneuf, won the short program at the 2011 Canadian Figure Skating Championships tonight. The Quebc skater performed a clean short program and heads into tomorrow's long program with a healthy 8.65 lead over second place finisher, 17-year-old Alexandra Najarro. Amelie Lacoste and Myriane Samson finished third and fourth, respectively. Jessica Dube, whose pairs partner Bryce Davison is sitting out the seasonfollowing knee surgery, placed fifth in her return to singles skating, while former US competitor Adriana DeSanctis sits in sixth place.

Short Program Results

1	Cynthia Phaneuf	QC	60.77	-	60.77
2	Alexandra Najarro	CO	52.12	-	52.12
3	Amelie Lacoste	QC	50.86	-	50.86
4	Myriane Samson	QC	49.75	-	49.75
5	Jessica Dube	QC	48.81	-	48.81
6	Adriana DeSanctis	CO	47.81	-	47.81
7	Sarah Jourdain	QC	45.69	-	45.69
8	Vanessa Grenier	QC	44.13	-	44.13
9	Dallas Daniel	AB/NT/NU	38.99	-	38.99
10	Rylie McCulloch-Casarsa	WO	38.61	-	38.61
11	Kate Charbonneau	MB	38.61	-	38.61
12	Devon Neuls	BC/YT	37.92	-	37.92
13	Karine Chevrier	QC	36.57	-	36.57
14	Jessica-Amy Sergeant	AB/NT/NU	36.05	-	36.05
15	Izabel Valiquette	QC	35.62	-	35.62
16	Kelsey McNeil	NB	34.52	-	34.52
17	Daniela-Bella Favot	WO	33.97	-	33.97
18	Jacqueline Lenuik	BC/YT	33.36	-	33.36

Cynthia Phaneuf in Pursuit of Canadian Championship #2

Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press

Cynthia Phaneuf, above with coach, Annie Barabe, finished fifth at the 2010 World Figure Skating Championships. With Olympic bronze medalist Joannie Rochette sitting out the season, Phaneuf is the favorite to win the ladies title at the 2011 Canadian Figure Skating Championships. The twenty-three-year old last won the competition in 2004

The ladies short program begins this Friday at 6:20 pm PST. Here is the start order:

1 Daniela-Bella Favot WO

2 Karine Chevrier QC

3 Jessica-Amy Sergeant AB/NT/NU

4 Kelsey McNeil NB

5 Sarah Jourdain QC

6 Jacqueline Lenuik BC/YT

7 Izabel Valiquette QC

8 Rylie McCulloch-Casarsa WO

9 Jessica Dube QC

10 Devon Neuls BC/YT

11 Kate Charbonneau MB

12 Dallas Daniel AB/NT/NU

13 Adriana DeSanctis CO

14 Alexandra Najarro CO

15 Vanessa Grenier QC

16 Amelie Lacoste QC

17 Myriane Samson QC

18 Cynthia Phaneuf QC

2010 World Championships - Final Results + Notes

2010 World Champion Mao Asada

Mao Asada - Gold

Yuna Kim - Silver

Laura Lepisto - Bronze

4. Miki Ando

5. Cynthia Phaneuf

6. Carolina Kostner

7. Mirai Nagasu

8. Ksenia Makarova

9. Rachael Flatt

10. Viktoria Helgesson

Mao Asada becomes the first woman to regain the World title since Irina Slutskaya in 2005. Yuna Kim's inability to defend her world title means Katarina Witt remains the last woman to go undefeated all season in the year she took Olympic gold. Laura Lepisto is the first lady from Finland to ever medal at the World Championships. Cynthia Phaneuf has bragging rights as the highest placing North American skater. For the third straight season, the lady with the higher US Nationals finish is not the highest placing American at worlds.

2010 World Championships - Ladies Short Program Results

Mirai Nagasu in the lead.

Who saw this coming?

Top 24 advance to the long program

1 Mirai Nagasu USA 70.40 40.20 30.20
2 Mao Asada JPN 68.08 37.12 30.96
3 Laura Lepisto FIN 64.30 34.98 29.32
4 Carolina Kostner ITA 62.20 33.20 29.00
5 Ksenia Makarova RUS 62.06 36.90 25.16
6 Rachael Flatt USA 60.88 33.80 27.08
7 Yu-Na Kim KOR 60.30 30.02 30.28
8 Cynthia Phaneuf CAN 59.50 33.94 25.56
9 Viktoria Helgesson SWE 56.32 32.68 23.64
10 Julia Sebestyen HUN 56.10 30.06 26.04
11 Miki Ando JPN 55.78 28.70 28.08
12 Elene Gedevanishvili GEO 55.26 30.34 25.92
13 Sarah Hecken GER 55.20 33.64 21.56
14 Alena Leonova RUS 54.36 29.40 25.96
15 Jenna McCorkell GBR 52.12 29.92 22.20
16 Kiira Korpi FIN 51.72 26.68 26.04
17 Cheltzie Lee AUS 51.36 31.40 19.96
18 Yan Liu CHN 49.96 28.52 21.44
19 Anastasia Gimazetdinova UZB 49.10 29.34 19.76
20 Akiko Suzuki JPN 48.36 23.32 26.04
21 Sonia Lafuente ESP 47.72 27.08 21.64
22 Elena Glebova EST 47.72 26.32 21.40
23 Min-Jung Kwak KOR 47.46 27.30 21.16
24 Manouk Gijsman NED 47.44 30.60 16.84
25 Ivana Reitmayerova SVK 45.96 25.60 20.36
26 Sarah Meier SUI 45.06 23.10 22.96
27 Tamar Katz ISR 44.96 25.20 20.76
28 Tugba Karademir TUR 44.52 23.88 20.64
29 Myriane Samson CAN 44.20 24.44 21.76
30 Kerstin Frank AUT 43.80 26.76 17.04
31 Victoria Muniz PUR 41.08 25.24 15.84
32 Bettina Heim SUI 41.00 24.60 16.40
33 Fleur Maxwell LUX 40.22 24.70 16.52
34 Teodora Postic SLO 40.20 23.64 18.56
35 Karina Johnson DEN 38.22 23.78 15.44
36 Zanna Pugaca LAT 38.20 24.48 13.72
37 Mirna Libric CRO 37.24 22.52 14.72
38 Lauren Ko PHI 33.34 19.30 14.04
39 Martina Bocek CZE 32.90 18.66 15.24
40 Irina Movchan UKR 32.60 19.00 14.60
41 Sonia Radeva BUL 32.12 20.60 12.52
42 Ana Cecilia Cantu MEX 31.88 16.64 15.24
43 Crystal Kiang TPE 31.72 18.36 13.36
44 Georgia Glastris GRE 31.36 18.00 13.36
45 Gwendoline Didier FRA 29.32 15.28 16.04
46 Marina Seeh SRB 28.32 17.84 10.48
47 Clara Peters IRL 28.20 16.00 12.20
48 Tamami Ono HKG 27.74 13.54 14.20
49 Abigail Pietersen RSA 25.76 14.88 11.88
50 Charissa Tansomboon THA 25.22 13.90 12.32
51 Sabina Paquier ROU 24.42 14.46 10.96
52 Yoniko Eva Washington IND 24.24 15.00 10.24
53 Beatrice Rozinskaite LTU 23.68 13.72 10.96
WDR Isabelle Pieman BEL
WDR Sonja Mugosa MNE

Photo AFP