Skating Fridays

Sectionals Recap – Part 3

2020 Sectionals Dramatic podium_corrected

Saturday was a really long day. My skating bestie and I had practice ice at 7:00am, which meant that we had to leave the hotel around 6:25 to get over there. Her first event began at 8:00am, and her second event was at 9:00. After she finished, we watched one or two more events and then went to grab lunch. After lunch, we went back to our hotel so that I could prepare for my championship event around 3:00pm. Once that was done, we ate dinner, went back to the rink, and proceeded to watch the elite skaters.

Between the intermediate ladies event groups, I went back to the locker room to change into my costume for the dramatic event. There were 5 of us entered, but one of the ladies withdrew so she could return home to her family. Our event was scheduled to begin around 10:00pm that evening. One lady was stuck in traffic, and the other hadn’t been at the rink all day (and withdrew from an earlier event). At that point, only 2 of us were confirmed to skate.

About 5 minutes before our event began, the two ladies in question appeared. There were a total of 4 of us for our dramatic entertainment, and I was scheduled to skate last.

Honestly, I didn’t care about placement for this event because the program was dedicated in honor of my mom (whom I lost last year). The music I skated to was Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel.” This was a piece of music I’ve used before, with different choreography and a different costume. I spoke to my mom prior to the event and told her this was for her.

The entire program was such a blur. I don’t remember much about it except that I wasn’t focused on the elements or the choreography. I let the music guide me. After I stepped off the ice, my skating bestie embraced me in a giant hug, and we both ugly cried. After a minute, I was back to my normal self. At this point, it was almost 10:30pm.

2020 Sectionals clock
It’s 10:35pm and we’re STILL at the rink! We’ve been here since 6:45am!

I ended tying for 2nd place, but after the tiebreak, I ended up in 3rd. Again, the placement didn’t matter to me, as I tried to skate from my heart and pay tribute to my mom.

All in all, it was a great skating weekend. I’m proud of how far I’ve come, and I’m excited about where I’ll be by the end of the year.

2020 Sectionals Hei Hei
Look at all the medals Hei Hei stole. Just kidding. These are the medals that my skating bestie and I won over the weekend. It’s our largest haul ever! (Two golds, one silver, two bronzes)

2 Comments

  1. March 27, 2020 / 6:53 pm

    Long (and happy) day at the rink! I know that your mom was watching in spirit. Love sharing these happy moments with you, Eva. Well done!

    • evabakes
      Author
      March 27, 2020 / 7:46 pm

      Thanks, Jo! It was a great end to an otherwise long day!

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