BARRIE, ONTARIO, - Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., grabbed the lead in pairs and Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., topped the women's standings after Wednesday's short programs at the Skate Canada Autumn International figure skating competition.

The competition is the second stop on the new ISU Challenger Series.

Duhamel and Radford lead the pairs skaters with 68.92 points, Jessica Calalang and Zack Sidhue of the U.S., are second at 59.02 and Natasha Purich of Sherwood Park, Alta., and Andrew Wolfe of Calgary are third at 54.84.

"We felt really comfortable out there and skated with freedom," said Radford. "Even though we are seasoned competitors, you're somewhat looking for your bearings at the beginning of the season.''

Daleman, 16, leads the women's competition after the short program with 59.38 points. Angela Wang of the U.S. is second at 56.38 and Julianne Seguin of Longueuil, Que., is third at 54.18.

Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam of Barrie, Ont., are second after the ice dancing short program with 55.30 points. Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France are first at 59.74, and Sara Hurtado and Adria Diaz of Spain are third at 54.14, just ahead of Piper Gilles of Toronto and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., in fourth at 53.42.

After the men's short program, Ross Miner of the U.S. is first at 80.24, Hong Kong's Ronald Lam is second at 73.75 and Vancouver's Jeremy Ten is third at 69.22.