Dylan Moscovitch and Kirsten Moore-Towers. Photo: Danielle Earle

Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club member Andrew Poje and partner Kaitlyn Weaver will be competing in the ice dance event at the 2010 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, which will take place January 25-31 in Jeonju City, Republic of Korea.

The couple earned the bronze medal recently at the BMO Canadian Figure Championships in London, Ontario. Their total score of 184.40 fell a mere 0.3 points short of securing a spot for the pair on the Canadian Olympic team, but earned the duo the right to represent Canada at Four Continents. This will be Weaver and Poje's third trip to Four Continents, having placed 5th in both 2008 and in 2009. The pair has previously competed at two World Championships, and was World bronze medalists at the 2007 Junior World Championships.

Also making the trip to Korea for the 2010 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships are Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch, who qualified in the senior pair event after finishing 5th last week in London.

"We achieved our personal goals of skating clean and having fun, which is all we wanted to do", says Moore-Towers of the pair's performance at Nationals. "We knew we had no say in placements, but if I was to make a placement goal; top five is exactly what I hoped for. Of course a standing ovation is fun also."

Moore-Towers and Moscovitch train at RIM Park in Waterloo, and are coached by former Olympians Kris Wirtz and Kristy Sargeant-Wirtz. The team was a new partnership formed in the spring of 2009. This will be Moore-Towers and Moscovitch's second international event, and their first ISU championship event.

Moscovitch is hoping for a repeat of his team's recent successes. "Our goals for Four Continents are to continue skating the way we have been skating and deliver two strong performances as well as gain more international exposure and experience", says Moscovitch.

Former Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club members Allie Hann-McCurdy and Michael Coreno will also represent Canada in the ice dance event.

The Canadian team will consist of 18 skaters who qualified based on their results at nationals. Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club coach Carolyn Allwright will serve as team manager for Team Canada in Jeonju City.

Allwright has served as a team manager for Canada at more than 10 international events including Junior Grand Prix, Senior Grand Prix, and various ISU Championship events. This is her third trip to the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships as Canada's team manager.

The ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships is an annual event organized by the International Skating Union for skaters from the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Skaters compete in the categories of men's singles, ladies' singles, pairs, and ice dance.

Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club
The Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club (KWSC) is one of the largest figure skating clubs in Canada. The club--which has existed for over 70 years--is based in the twin cities of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, 100 km west of Toronto. The club operates competitive programs that have sent singles skaters, dance pairs, freeskate pairs, and synchronized teams to compete in the Canadian Championships, as well as International Competitions.