Leonardo and Pilar Maekawa have achieved personal bests on the way to some impressive finishes.

The teenage siblings took first in regional ice dance competition in Langford a couple of weeks ago. Individually, Pilar achieved a seventh place ranking while Leonardo got a pre-novice nod by acclamation as the only such ranked man on the Island.

It was last week, however, when the youthful athletes really hit their stride.

The occasion was the BC Sectionals (provincials) where the best skaters in the province compete to qualify for the the event known as the Western Challenge.

Leonardo earned a fourth place spot in his singles effort – good for a berth in the Westerns. If he can keep up the momentum it could lead the way to a slot in the junior nationals.

It was in the ice dance where the kids aced it – grabbing top spot with the kind of inspired performance all athletes dream about.

“During the performance I felt in the zone,” said Leonardo. “I was just going through the motions. It was like there was no one else in the rink but me and Pilar. Then when we finished the routine everything came back to reality.”

Everything worked out as planned as the team executed its routine to perfection.

“It was good because I gave it the best expression I’ve done,” said Pilar, “so the judges would think I was the best out there.” The result has meant a lot to the pair’s outlook, with the sort of confidence boost expected with a first place showing.

“Very original,” “I couldn’t stop watching,” “You kept us interested until the very last second,” these were some of the compliments from the audience, coaches, judges and friends, to Pilar and Leonardo, after they finished their Freedance program at the Nanaimo competition.