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Show orts Guardian of Your Community News A14 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2009 Go SFfigureskater talks about life on and off the ice Namon Bills EDITOR An accomplished athlete needs somewhere to store her medals — a mantle, a display case, or a shoebox under the bed, for example. Spanish Fork figure skater Ashley Phelps uses the latter. She prefers to focus on future goals rather than past achievements. Ashley has numerous medals from competitions, but her focus now is on completing tests to move up levels. "I want to test up to senior ladies [level] and land all of my doubles and maybe a triple," she said. And this by the time she graduates from high school in 2011. The U.S. Figure Skating requirements to qualify for senior level include a free program with four different double or triple jumps, two different jump combinations and an axel jump, in addition to various spins and step sequences. There's also a Moves in the Field test, which consists of skating five pre-determined patterns with various requirements. The Maple Mountain junior recently qualified for intermediate level. "I was really excited when I passed the intermediate test," she said. "Most people don't pass on the first try." She now has novice, junior and senior level tests to pass; her goal is to spend about nine months on each. Ashley started skating at age 10. Her dad took her to a small outdoor ice rink next to Provo's Peaks Ice Arena during the 2002 Winter Olympics. "From the first time I ever skated I just fell in love with it," she said. Ashley's mother, Susan, said the experience was an eye opener. "She just took off. He couldn't keep up with her," she said. "I think that encouraged him to let her do what she wanted to do." Ashley started with the Learn to Skate program at Peaks. She progressed quickly, and eventually started working with a private coach. The sport of figure skating requires a lot of dedication and hard work, which for Ashley has meant years of 5:30 ajn. practices. A typical day at the rink could include anywhere from one and a half to three hours of practice. Despite all the hard work, Ashley said she loves skating. "I love the feeling on the ice. It feels really good, really free," she said. She also loves the feeling of accomplishment as- Namon Bills / The Sentinel PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: Ashley Phelps performs part of her free program during practice at the Peaks Ice Arena. sociated with mastering a particular skill. "It feels really good when Figure skating basics Testing and Levels Competitive and recreational skaters can participate in official U.S. Figure Skating testing. Tests are administered under the auspices and control of a member club, and are required for participation in competitive skating. U.S. Figure Skating recognizes various levels of accomplishment including: pre-preliminary, preliminary, pre-juvenile, jumps which takes off juvenile, intermediate, from the forward outside novice, junior and senior. edge and is landed on the back outside edge of the Jumps opposite foot. A single There are a variety axel consists of 1 1/2 of specific jumps in fig- revolutions ... The jump ure skating. The two is named for its inventor, mentioned in the story Axel Paulsen. It is easily are the toe loop: "a toe- recognizable as it is the pick assisted jump that only jump that takes off takes off and lands on from a forward position." the same back outside edge," and the axel: Source: "one of the most difficult usfigureskating. org. you work hard for something and you're able to accomplish your goals ," she said. Some of her favorite moments on the ice include landing jumps for the first time. "The first time I ever landed an axel was really big for me," she said. "I worked on it for a long, long, long, long time — it took months." Susan said it was a rewarding experience for her as well. "I was there the morning she first landed it. The rink erupted in cheers," she said. Ashley landed her first double toe loop a few weeks ago. "I was shaking and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, I just landed it,' and I started screaming," she said. In addition to doing her own skating, Ashley teaches Learn to Skate classes both to adults and to children as young as three or four. "Adult classes are easier to teach, but little kids are a lot of fun," she said. The teaching is valuable experience for Ashley, who hopes to one day become a coach. Susan explained that a lot of skaters dedicate their whole life to the sport, doing home school and skating six hours a day. Although skating figures large in her life right now, Ashley said she's got other things she's focusing on as well. She found that the work ethic and endurance required for figure skating translate well to track and cross country. As a sophomore, Ashley was named the outstanding cross country athlete at SFHS last year. This year she's one of the captains for the Maple Mountain cross country squad. Ashley keeps up with her schoolwork, maintaining a 3.99 GPA, and serves on the youth city council. Her interests include the creative arts and the outdoors. She's also excited to start a service program working with special needs kids. Ashley hasn' t decided yet where she wants to go to college or what she wants to major in, but at the rate things are going, future endeavors may necessitate another shoebox. Summer swim program finishes with a splash Mike Olsen STAFF W R I T E R The summer swim programs for many of the cities of the valley came to an end this past week with the finals for Utah County being held in Spanish Fork. The final events were held over three days with the gold event being staged on Saturday. The weather was typical for Spanish Fork: a steady breeze out of the canyon accompanied by clear blue skies. Saturday's event was for those swimmers who had demonstrated the best times throughout the summer leagues for their given age groups and events. Several county records fell as the swimmers gave it their all. The Spanish Fork 15-18 year old girls 200 yard medley relay set a new county record with a time of 2:14:51. Joshua Crowther of the Provo Pikes team took first in the boys 100 freestyle with a time of 53:51, just barely missing the county record time of 53:06. The Spanish Fork girls took the top three spots in the girls 15-18 100 yard freestyle with Holly Christensen placing 1st, Merika Olsen at 2nd place and Rebecca Greene grabbed 3rd place. The Spanish Fork summer team was coached by Courtney Barsdley, Mike Crockett and Cam Crockett. A huge thanks to the coaches and the swimmers too. Practicing at 6 a.m. is never a pleasant task, but hard work does pay and it certainly showed last Saturday. EXTRA EFFORT: Pictured above is the Spanish Fork summer swim team. Right, Josh Crowther took first in the boys 100m freestyle. Mike Olsen / The Sentinel |