Ilyushechkina, Moscovitch take 4th in pairs at ISU Challenger Series event
Toronto team scored 169.04
Canadians Lubov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch placed fourth in pairs on Friday at the Ondrej Nepela figure skating competition in Slovakia, the third stop on the ISU Challenger Series.
The Russians swept the medals, with Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov winning gold at 190.28, Kristina Astakhova and Alexei Rogonov silver at 185.00 and Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov placed third at 184.25.
Toronto's Ilyushechkina and Moscovitch, who are in their second season together, totaled 169.04 to finish fourth.
Canada remains in the hunt for medals in the other three events.
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, both from Toronto, sit in third spot in ice dancing after the short dance with 62.56 points. Gilles and Poirier, who finished sixth at last season's world championships, currently sit within a point away from the top spot.
The American team of Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani are in first at 63.24, and the British team of Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland are in second with a score of 62.70.
Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont. is also in contention for a medal in the women's competition. After the short program she sits in fourth place with a score of 60.76, but remains less than three points behind the leader, Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia at 62.72. The second-place position is held by Riona Kato of Japan at 61.84, with third place occupied by Russian Maria Artemieva at 61.21.
In the men's competition, Sherwood Park, Alta., native Keegan Messing is in fourth place after the short program at 73.16. Mikhail Kolyada of Russia leads at 84.33, Jason Brown of the U.S. is second at 76.98 and Gordei Gorshkov of Russia sits third at 76.25.