Hero photograph
Selena Zeng top of the podium!
 
Photo by Gretchen Beardmore

Columba Skaters continue to dazzle on the ice

Mrs G Beardmore —

Columba College is extremely proud of a group of ice skating students who have achieved some amazing results recently. Over the weekend of 30th July, the Dunedin Ice Skating Championships were held and performances from three amazing Columba ice skaters gained them selection for the NZ National Figure Skating Competition later in the year!

Madison Bryce: Year 7 Columba student Madison has had a great season to date and came away from the Dunedin Championships over the weekend with a win in the Juvenile U12 Grade. Madison was also awarded the Club Trophy for Most Promising Skater at the competition, which was a fantastic achievement. Her results mean she now qualifies for the NZ National Figure Skating Competition in October. Well done, Madison!

Selina Zeng: Selina (Year 9) also competed in the Dunedin Championships over the weekend and placed first in the intermediate novice ladies' grade, qualifying her for the New Zealand figure skating nationals to be held in Auckland. This year is Selina's third time qualifying for a NZ National competition, and this achievement is something she should be very proud of. Selina finds ice skating a great way to represent Columba in an 'out-of-school' sport and her goal is to compete well at nationals. Her ultimate goal is to gain the opportunity to represent New Zealand at an international competition one day. Well done, Selina!

Rebekah Sime: At the Dunedin champs, Rebekah (Year 11) was competing in the synchro event, which is a competition for teams made up of at least 12 skaters. Rebekah's team performance proved to be her personal best of the season with her scores improving by 10 points. This huge improvement was recognised by the judges when their team ('Cutting Edge') was awarded the most improved trophy. With the significant leap in improvement, the team also qualified for the New Zealand Nationals, which was one of their main goals. What a super result for Cutting Edge! Team coach, Megan Kliegl, is an old girl of Columba and inspired Rebekah to apply for Columba some years ago. It is always great to hear of ongoing Columba community connections! Well done, Rebekah and Cutting Edge!

We wish our skaters all the very best for the upcoming South Island Figure Skating Championships in Queenstown next weekend, and for the NZ Ice skating championships in October. Recent results achieved by our Columba students are a strong recognition of their talent and hard work. Well done, girls!!