Recap from Nationals
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| My Nationals teammates! |
I am back from Nationals! I had a wonderful time and got to meet so many wonderful and supportive people while in Hyannis. It was inspiring to watch those who were better than me (and there were a LOT of them), and to watch those who are still skating in their 60s and beyond. It made me think, “I want to do that!” or “I want to be like them!”
We arrived on Tuesday, and I did not have to skate until Thursday. On Wednesday, I watched my teammates compete. They all skated really well, and I am proud of how they did. I’m still puzzled by the 6.0 judging system since many of the judges’ marks and ordinals were all over the board. Regardless, it was still a fun time and I was glad to be able to support my fellow teammates.
On Thursday, I practiced at Tony Kent Arena (where Nancy Kerrigan and Paul Wylie trained). It was smaller and darker than I had envisioned, and the ice wasn’t as hard or smooth as I was used to. K and I even recreated one of our favorite moments from our Tonya and Nancy duet last fall – check out the photo below! Regardless, I had a good practice and even met a Gold skater who was competing in the championship round. Hopefully that will be me one day…
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| K and I doing our best Tonya and Nancy impression |
My freestyle event was late on Thursday afternoon. There were supposed to be 17 ladies in my event, but two of them dropped. I was the second to last person to take the ice, so I got to watch the others and hear their scores. I honestly had no expectations since this was my first official competition as a Gold skater, and I just wanted to do my best.
My program went well, and I finished on time and did not fall. I’ll post a recap of my scores next week so you can see what I received from the judges. I earned 22.22 points, which is higher than my previous score of 18.10. Four points is a huge difference in Gold level, so I am proud for improving since last September. I placed 13th out of 15, but I am happy with that since I was the newest skater to the Gold level out of all the competitors. Most of them have been at this level for years (whereas I am new as of January 2014), so I have a lot to learn. Here is my program:
I also skated on Friday night in the Gold Dramatic event. Again, I had no expectations since I was the newest Gold level skater. Not surprisingly, I placed last. I received 7th, 8th and 9th place ordinals. The skater who won the Silver medal received a 9th place ordinal, and the lady who won the event received an 8th place ordinal. So, it shows you that what one judge likes may completely differ from what another judge likes. I’m not complaining about my placement and know that I can only improve from here on out. Here is the video:
Some memorable moments from my week in Hyannis were meeting fellow skating bloggers Alejeather from Footwork and Fancy Threes and Diane from Waltz Jump, doing well at the S.T.A.R.S. athletic combine and of course, meeting Olympic Gold medalist Dick Button, and chatting with my skating hero and inspiration, Paul Wylie.
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| With Alejeather |
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| Meeting my hero, Paul Wylie! |
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| Olympic Gold medalist Dick Button |
More to come in upcoming Skating Fridays posts!
