One of Quesnel’s most promising young athletes, Mitchell Dunn, has been quietly putting in a whole lot of work to improve his craft over the summer.
It is beginning to show, with some notable results against tough competition.
Last week (Nov. 8), the 13-year-old figure skater placed third in the Juvenile Men category at the BC/YK Section Championships in Coquitlam.
Dunn had a personal best score of 20.25, which bested his previous score by 1.84 points.
Carly Dinicol, head coach of the Quesnel Figure Skating Club, says he skated his heart out.
Dunn’s cumulative points in the competitive Pond to Podium Series earned him a second place overall, which Dinicol says is a huge accomplishment for his first year in the competitive stream.
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In order to compete in the stream, Dunn had to skip a level due to his age.
He and his mother made the hour-and-a-half drive up to Prince George three times a week this summer to allow him to practise at the Northern BC Centre for Skating.
Dunn is also skating most mornings and every day after school for an hour and a half.
“My jumps have gotten a lot better,” the young skater says. “I’ve added a few more, and my skating has become a lot smoother.
“Before, it was a bit rough and wild.”
Dinicol says his team is especially proud of him for landing two double toe loop jumps in the Nov. 8 competition. Dunn had only recently started landing the difficult jump, so his coach says to do so under pressure is an incredible feat.
The meet was the end of the competitive season for Dunn, who only took part in two events.
He will continue to skate in the Juvenile Men category for the season, but his points will not be tallied; they will just be for his own benefit.
In the short term, the skater will participate at the Okanagan Interclub meet (Nov. 23-25); however, next year he will compete in Novice, where he will have an opportunity to go to Skate Canada challenge.
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