Gryphons Skate circles around defending champ Mustangs

The Guelph Gryphons won the Ontario University Athletics Figure Skating Championship this past Friday at Ryerson, defeating the three-time defending champions Western.


It was a two-day event starting Thursday, Feb. 13 with nine teams competing including Waterloo. There were 14 events, seven per day. Day one included the short program, individual dance, and dance pairs. Day two included free shake, creative dance, and men’s open singles. Six of the teams may as well not have been there because placement was dominated by the top three teams: Guelph, Western, and the hosts Ryerson.


It was truly a battle for silver. Guelph was ahead of the pack by almost 25 points, but Western and Ryerson were neck and neck. It was only in the final event of the competition, the team synchro event, that Western was able to clinch first and jump ahead to 77 points, leaving Ryerson in bronze position by only five points at 72.


Waterloo only made placement once, on day one in open individual dance. Warrior Lillian Rieck tied with Carleton’s Jazz Smyl Joly for first. The warriors ended the tournament with 17 points in seventh place, ahead of Brock and Carleton.


Guelph was able to place in 13 of 14 events. Some medalists include Francis Adamo, who captured gold in the men&rsquo;s event; veteran Anjuli Dabydeen, who got silver in gold freeskate; and graduating skater <dfn>Amanda Sproule, who won</dfn> silver in senior silver freeskate. The final score for the Gryphons was 102.


They took home the OUA banner, medals, and a championship trophy &mdash; the perfect end to a perfect season.&nbsp;