The University of Toronto Varsity Blues figure skating team turned things around in a big way on day two of the 2008-09 OUA championships to pick up a fourth-place finish at Varsity Arena.

After day one of competition, the Blues were disappointed with some of their performances and an overall seventh-place ranking. With some inspirational words from head coach Allen Chung, Toronto came back to skate very well on Thursday, Feb. 19 and finish just off the podium.

“We were really disappointed with our results yesterday [Feb. 18] and knew we could do better,” said Chung. “I’m very proud the team was able to pick themselves up and skate hard today.”

Toronto’s huge comeback was bolstered by their two gold-medal performances and their fourth-place finish in the synchronized skating event.

Leading the way for the Blues were Annie-Claire Bergeron Oliver (Ottawa, Ont.) and Veronica Hall (Dryden, Ont.), who picked up the gold ribbon in the senior similar pairs. Bergeron Oliver also picked up a third-place finish in the gold ladies category.

Stacey Henderson (Mississauga, Ont.) and Lydia Shultz (Bradford, Ont.) were the other Toronto skaters to strike gold – this time in the starskate gold creative dance event.

Julia Hommik (Toronto) and Gillian Saunders (Reston, Va.) placed second in the intermediate similar pairs, while Nonita Campbell (Wyoming, Ont.) and Sonya Hessey (Stratford, Ont.) picked up the bronze in the senior silver similar dance.

Bergeron Oliver, Hall, Henderson and Schultz were all named OUA all-stars for their top performances over the two-day event.

The Guelph Gryphons took the 2008-09 OUA title, followed by the Queen’s Gaels in second and the Western Mustangs in third place.