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The Scarboro Figure Skating Club dance team of Paul Poirier and Piper Gilles finished third at this year's recent national championships in Moncton, in the senior dance event.
Usually, that would mean a ticket to the world championships, which this year are being held in Nice, France, March 26 to April 1, but the newly minted duo are unable to officially represent Canada until next season, as Gilles, a resident of Colorado Springs, had been representing the U.S.
So instead, the fourth place finishers will represent Canada, and they also happen to be longtime members of the Scarborough club - Kharis Ralph, 19, from Toronto and Asher Hill, 20, of Pickering.
For Ralph and Hill, it was their third straight fourth-place finish at nationals after a stellar youth career that included national championships at the junior, novice and pre-novice levels.
Poirier, a Unionville resident attending the University of Toronto, actually won nationals last year with another partner, Vanessa Crone, although there was a caveat: 2010 Vancouver Olympic champs Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir - the reigning Olympic and world champs who won nationals again this year in Moncton - did not compete due to injury.
The local Scarborough club, headquartered out of Ice Galaxy in the Scarborough Centennial Recreational Complex at 1967 Ellesmere Rd., is especially noted for its elite dance program.
The highlight of the nationals was North York's Patrick Chan sensational performance to capture his fifth senior men's title.
See our story at www.insidetoronto.com/sports/article/1286691--chan-unstoppable-in-new-brunswick
- Norm Nelson