I’m excited too! CAN Nationals is my favourite because I’ve watched all the Sectionals and the Challenger event.
Men - Keegan (last year before retirement) plus Romsky (rooting for him the most) should get the two spots. I have a strange feeling Stephen Gogolev is going to surprise though. I want Stephen to do well, because with Keegan gone next year, it will be him and Romsky leading the way for Canadian Men. Also, FYI, the standard Canada has set for athletes being sent to International competitions is a score of 220. Neumann was close at the challenger event with a score of 217. He beat Chiu at this event. With Conrad and Corey not skating well this season, if Neumann finishes in the top 5 with a score over 220, he has a good chance to be on the Canadian Team, for next year.
Ladies - Maddie is our only lady with minimums for Worlds. She skated 180+ at her two GP events and 180+ at Golden Spin. She is the fave. Kaiya (170+) and Justine (165+) were also excellent at the Challenger event in Austria. But, they finished in 6th and 4th at the Challenger event, after placing 1st and 2nd, after the SP. Hoping Kaiya will pull a Kaori and regroup at Nationals. She is my fave. The three women who won medals at the Challenger event, all skated the best skates of their lives so far. So, it will be interesting to see which one was a fluke performance. Fiona Bombardier has the genes. Canada requires the ladies to score over 165, to be sent to International events. The top three at Challenger, all scored over this mark. If any of these three, score over that mark again at Nationals, ahead of either Kaiya or Justine, I can see Canada sending them to 4CC. I think Sara Maude is the only with a qualifying score though, so the other two, will have to be sent to an event prior. Not sure what events are left prior to 4CC.
Pairs - This is the event I’m most looking forward to. I’m going to be paying attention to 5th and 6th place. I’m hoping Nadeau scores over 160, to be sent internationally. That is the score required.