For a pair of local skaters last week, there were plenty of reasons to show their pride.

Ice dancer Madelaine Edwards of Port Moody and senior men's skater Kevin Reynolds each secured a silver medal at the Canadian Figure Skating championships in Moncton, N.B.

In Edwards' case, the past week was all about hitting the ice and soaking up the national competition atmosphere, delaying the frantic rush to hit the books for high school exam week.

When you've spent the past seven days on the other side of the country with a challenge of making your national championship debut, studying understandably took a backseat.

The Port Moody teen and her ice dance partner Zhao Kai Pang danced to a silver medal in junior competition at the Canadian Figure Skating championships.

After returning home Monday, the Heritage Woods student told The NOW that delivering their best performance possible was the first thing on the pairs' minds.

"We just wanted to go in and have a good skate and not be too worried about our score," said Edwards, 15. "We felt that we came out solid and talked about how happy we were when we finished, even before we knew our score."

The pair, who skate out of the Inlet Skating Club and are coached by the Centre of Excellence's Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe, took the lead after the opening short dance with a score of 56.81.

In the free dance portion, Edwards and Pang placed fourth with a score of 72.74.

Jumping up from seventh place to finish third overall, with the second-best free skate score, were fellow Inlet skaters Noa Bruser and Timothy Lum.

"I was nervous but not unusually nervous," Edwards noted of competing in her first national as a junior athlete. "I thought our coaches played a huge part in our success - they've been there before as coaches, as athletes, to the Olympics. They've worked really hard at getting us prepared."

Edwards and Pang garnered 129.55 points, bested only by the Quebec pairing of Andreanne Poulin and Marc-Andre Servant's 131.47 - which was the highest score posted by a Canadian junior dance team since the short dance was added to the competition.

With a routine that includes level four lifts and twizzles, Edwards and Pang were in the hunt for a fourth-straight national gold medal. That they were edged out in the end didn't dampen the accomplishment, she said.

"I think it was a very good end to the season. We were happy with how we performed, and while we would have liked to have won, that wasn't our main goal," she said.

It was a season that also saw them make their international debut, where the pair represented Canada at the Junior Grand Prix in Austria in September, finishing fifth.

"That was just a fun experience and we were just so happy with our placing," Edwards said. "Just to represent Canada, to hear them announce you as 'representing Canada', it made you realize how big this was."

With skating season now wrapped up, Edwards said her main focus is on this week's Grade 10 exams.

Even in Moncton, school proved to be a mere distraction. Unfortunately, she has little time to catch up - but she will.

"Sometimes I'd go to bed and think I should be doing my French homework right now," she added with a laugh.

Reynolds, meanwhile, produced a bold free skate that netted him second place, behind five-time Canadian champion Patrick Chan on the weekend.

Chan ran away with the gold, scoring a record 302.14 total points, while Reynolds stood second with 239.44 points - nearly 32 points ahead of third place.

The 21-year-old Reynolds was pleased with his performance, which saw him return to the podium after last year's fourth-place finish.

"These are the strongest two programs I have put back-to-back in the same competition," Reynolds told GoldenSkate.com. "It couldn't have come at a better time, at the national championships, so I'm thrilled."

His free skate performance included three different quadruple jumps, a salchow, toe loop and a loop. In 2010, Reynolds scored the senior men's bronze.

With his podium result, the Coquitlam resident will represent Canada at the world championships. Last year, while recovering from a hip injury, he placed 20th overall after being appointed as an alternate. His aim this year is to deliver a much better showing.

"I am excited to be on the world team outright this year and not on the edge as an alternate," he said. "I'm looking forward to that. I'll be training harder than ever."

Reynolds also trains at the Centre of Excellence, under the tutelage of Joanne McLeod.

sports@thenownews.com