Hi everyone! Back from National Solo Dance Finals and had the most amazing several days in Cape Cod. I still cant believe I won two national medals!..I earned Bronze in my Pre-Gold Pattern event and Pewter in my Junior Combined Free Dance. This year’s nationals was full of excitement and thrills but also never without high stress and pressure. I prepared for this day all year, putting in over hundred hours of practice, conditioning and strengthening off-ice, learning new judging rules and program requirements, traveling to local competitions to qualify, and rehabilitating through a painful ankle injury. My ankle sprain occurred halfway though the season and I suffered for many weeks, forced to stay off the ice and not compete to qualify. It never fails that something always happens to me before nationals- last year a week before competition, I had a severe cold and fever and spent four days in bed and nationals was held in Colorado Springs so the long trip and the altitude there didn’t at all help with my recovery.
All the hard work I put in and the setbacks I had to overcome this season boiled down to the last final two days in which I had to perform my best and skate my programs that were less than two and half minutes (!) long. It was indeed a very tough season and the competition stress and pressures never seem to get easier to manage. I didn’t skate my personal best at finals; however, I am still so thrilled and grateful to come home with two national medals.
A HUGE thanks to my dance coach, Kenneth Foster, for his unwavering dedication and commitment, and to my choreographer, Sinead Kerr, for her artistic skills and talents in creating my beautiful winning programs.
I also have to thank those who worked behind the scenes to make me look good on the ice and designed my high quality program music for me to skate to. Sharene Designs and Del Arbour create my stunning custom designed skating dresses and I have used them for many years for both my freestyle and ice dance competitions. Sk8Mix (or Studio Unisons) is my top music editor who designs and edits my selected music to create the perfect professional music program mix. These businesses are integral in helping make my skating programs come together.
