Three Hazelwood School District student figure skaters spent some time on the ice in the fall\u00a0 showcasing their figure skating talents.<\/p>\n
Kristina Nguyen, 13, an eighth grader at Hazelwood West Middle School, placed fifth out of more than 100 skaters, scoring 81.58 points in the Upper Great Lakes Regional skating competition in October. She advanced to the Junior Nationals this month in Cleveland, Ohio.<\/p>\n
n”That\u2019s the best I have placed all season,\u201d she said of her score. \u201cI placed really well out of the whole region.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her long program, she uses moves such as the double-axel, which is a jump with two-and-a-half rotations, triple toe loops, another type of jump, as well as a triple salchow, which is a jump that starts from the back inside edge of one skate and ends on the back outside edge of the other skate.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get to meet new people,\u201d Nguyen said as she described a benefit of skating, something she has done since she was four years old.<\/p>\n
Eighth grader Morgan Reichert, who attends Hazelwood North Middle School and teammate Gabbie Linehan, a seventh grader who goes to Hazelwood Southeast Middle School, skate on a synchronized skating team. They are members of the Metro Edge Figure Skating Club and their team competed at 2009 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships in Portland, Maine earlier this year. It marked the first time a skating team from Missouri competed at that level<\/p>\n
Katina Truman, president of the Metro Edge Club, explained that individual ice skaters compete first in regional competitions, winners move on to sectionals and winners at that level go on to compete at nationals. For team skaters, there are no regional competitions, she said. Team skaters begin with sectionals and those winners advance to the nationals. Truman added that synchronized skating is the fastest-growing part of U.S. Figure Skating.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeam skating is just like synchronized swimming, only on the ice,\u201d Reichert, 13, said. She and her teammates perform different movements on the ice, such as circles. They also execute different turns, changes and holds. Reichert explained that holds are when team members touch other members\u2019 shoulders, arms or elbows.<\/p>\n
Her favorite move is the pinwheel. \u201cYou can make it with two spokes or with four,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m really good at them. I\u2019m always at the center of our pinwheels.<\/p>\n
\u201cI concentrate when I skate. I know some skaters who can let their minds wander, but I can\u2019t do that.\u201d She said the team\u2019s competitive skating schedule begins in September and ends in March, though her team practices during the summer, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI enjoy the places we get to go and the people we get to go with,\u201d Reichert said. She described a recent trip to Portland, Maine. \u201cWe went to different places; we saw the ocean and the mountains. It was so different than St. Louis,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Reichert has definite future plans that may or may not include figure skating. \u201cI plan to skate through high school. After that, I don\u2019t plan on going to college for skating, but I could. I want to go to Harvard; I want to be a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Linehan admits she skates for more than simple enjoyment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like being challenged and having things to work toward, learning new things and practicing them,\u201d she said. \u201cFigure skating does all that for me.\u201d Linehan, 12, said she practices for about an hour a day, or five hours per week.\u00a0 (story courtesy of Hazelwood Communications Dept.) <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Three Hazelwood School District student figure skaters spent some time on the ice in the fall\u00a0 showcasing their figure skating talents. Kristina Nguyen, 13, an eighth grader at Hazelwood West Middle School, placed fifth out of more than 100 skaters, scoring 81.58 points in the Upper Great Lakes Regional skating competition in October. She advanced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-school-news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n