By: Dylan Nazareth

Competition wrapped up for junior skaters this afternoon at the 2025 Canadian National Skating Championships, where Skate Ontario athletes put up a strong showing, bringing home a total of five medals, including two gold.

There were impressive performances across the board in Laval, but it was Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov in pairs, and David Bondar in men’s singles who will be returning to Ontario as Canadian junior champions.

Women’s solo skater Ksenia Krouzkevitch and synchro team NEXXICE picked up silver medals, while Layla Veillon and Alexander Brandys brought home bronze in junior dance.

Here’s a recap of Skate Ontario’s junior team’s performance over the past three days:

MEN’S SINGLES

It was a golden day in Laval Thursday for 18-year-old David Bondar. 

After a shaky short program Wednesday placed him in third, he found his footing in the free. Two triple axels propelled him to a final score of 196.86 for his first Canadian title.

“I’m really happy I kept it together after the rough short and was able to put out a pretty good long,” said Bondar. “[National champion] sounds amazing, yeah, I’m happy that I came here.”

Bondar previously finished eighth and 13th in junior nationals.

Meanwhile, Jake Ellis finished in sixth with a score of 170.36. The 19-year-old came in ninth last year.

“This week has been pretty good I’d say,” said Ellis. “I wanted to come home from nationals with two skates that I would be proud of … I felt like I was able to do that.”

Additionally, David Shteyngart jumped up to seventh with an impressive 117.81 in the free, James Cha slotted in 11th, and Jonathon Moravec finished 18th.

WOMEN’S SINGLES

Making her junior nationals debut, 13-year-old Ksenia Krouzkevitch put out a strong performance in the free to separate herself from the pack and earn silver.

For the young skater, this competition was all about finding her footing and her calm at this new level.

“It’s been a pretty good week and a great learning experience,” said the Oakville native. “I have been practicing being really low and settled before my program … I think I have improved that throughout the week.”

Finishing in fourth was 16-year-old Reese Rose with a score of 148.09. Kaylee Sun and Natasha Hewitt came in at eighth and tenth, respectively.

PAIRS

Skate Ontario took home its second gold thanks to the duo of Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov in pairs, who finished first in the short and the free for a commanding victory, earning a total score of 159.39.

“It’s a good building step for us, a bit of a confidence booster,” said Kemp.

As they steady themselves for what’s next, their goal is to strengthen their mental game.

“Keep building and become more confident in the program,” said Elizerov. “Have fun and don’t think too much about it.”

The Winnipeg-born pair originally represented Manitoba, but switched to Ontario a few years ago. They’re proud to get to represent the province on the national stage.

“There’s a lot of great skaters from Ontario, so we’re happy to be a part of the crew,” said Kemp.

“We get a lot of support from Skate Ontario, which we really appreciate,” added Elizerov.

The Barrie duo of Siyul Back and Gavin Mahoney finished fifth with a score of 112.79.

ICE DANCE

In junior dance, London natives Layla Veillon and Alexander Brandys took home bronze with a score of 160.22.

Just behind them in fourth was Barrie duo Summer Homick and Nicholas Buelow, who began competing together this season after Homick switched over from pairs.

“It’s our first one so we didn’t have any expectations,” said Homick. “We just wanted to go out there and show what we can do every day. It’s been so fun!”

“Since this was our first one, this one’s going to be for us,” added Buelow. “We have had a really good season and we just wanted to end it with two solid skates, and I think we did that.”

Skate Ontario had four more entries in junior dance, with Charlie Anderson and Cayden Dawson, Rachel Martins and Juel Kowalczyk, and Caroline Kravets and Aiden Dotzert finishing eighth, ninth, and tenth, respectively. Sophia Gover and Billy Wilson-French withdrew after the short due to illness.

SYNCHRONIZED SKATING

With Synchronized Skating appearing as part of the program for nationals for only the third time, Ontario’s NEXXICE Junior took home silver with a score of 186.33.

Speaking with NEXXICE Junior captains, they said this competition was a great experience for the team they won’t soon forget

“We have been working so hard towards our goal of doing well at Nationals and I think leaving the ice after both programs we felt really proud,” they said. “I think the biggest thing in synchro is this community of sisterhood that we have … Having that support system with you at all times is what makes it so great and memorable.”

Heading home with a silver medal, the Burlington-based team is proud they were able to represent their province well.

“To our team, it’s a great honour to be able to represent Ontario,” they said. “To be able to represent it so proudly as well as being able to put out two great skates, it was an amazing opportunity.”

Also representing Ontario in junior synchro were ICE Ignite and Gold Ice, who finished fourth and sixth, respectively.