May 3, 2006

Hi everyone,

I’m sorry that I haven’t written a journal entry for so long, but I have held off doing so because there have been some problems with other websites claiming to be mine, and using information and photos from this website on those sites. Just for clarification to those who have contacted me through other websites, figure skaters online is the only website that I have set up in which you are able to e-mail me personally, and yes, this one is really me answering you back.

The last competition of my season was the World Junior Championships in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The U.S. team competing there was probably the largest team we’ve ever had, with three skaters or teams in every discipline! Because there were so many ladies competing at the competition, we had to qualify with a long program. For the qualifying round, I drew first to skate. Because the competition for the first qualifying group began at 9:15 in the morning, my practice was at six that morning! Because the practice rink was far from the hotel, I had to get up quite early to practice. After the practice, I had to go right to the competition rink, because there was not much time before the competition started. I actually skated very well, and only messed up the very last jump in the program. After placing third in the qualifying, I was in the last warm-up group for the short program, where I again drew first to skate. I skated a clean short program, and placed fourth, behind Yu-Na Kim, Mao Asada, and Christine Zukowski. After the short program, we had a day to rest before competing our final long program. For the long program, I was in the last warm-up group again, but this time, I didn’t draw first to skate! This program did not go as well as the other two programs, and I moved down to sixth place overall. I was disappointed with how I had skated that program, but I did skate two good programs at the competition.

Because the ladies were done competing before the dance and the men’s events were over, I was able to spend some time sightseeing in Ljubljana and watching other events at the competition. I enjoyed walking around the “ Old Town,” and also had fun walking up the mountain to the Ljubljana castle with Meryl Davis and Charlie White. We walked up a small, winding trail covered with snow to the castle, but decided to take the road on the way down, because we didn’t want to slide down the mountain!

I didn’t have much of a break from skating after Jr. World’s. First, I was asked to be one of the guest skaters for an ice show in Findlay, Ohio. I had to use one of my old exhibition numbers because I wasn’t going to get my new show number choreographed until the following week. Ilia Kulik was the other guest skater. I enjoyed being a part of that show, and seeing old friends that I used to skate with in Bowling Green. (Not to mention that Findlay is only about 20 miles from home, and I could sleep in my own bed after each show instead of in a hotel room.) School was also back in session, but it was nice to have had spring break at the same time that I was away at Jr. World’s.

After the shows in Findlay, I took that Monday off from skating; on Tuesday, after skating in Detroit, I left for Toronto to get my new show number choreographed. I also had to train two other show numbers that week, because I was asked to skate in the Boston Ice Chips Show on the weekend. I had a lot of fun with the new choreography, but I was really exhausted by the end of the week. It was a little different for me to be skating on a rink that has no boards, since I am used to training on hockey rinks. I also couldn’t believe how congested the traffic was on the highways and city streets in Toronto!

Friday night I drove back to Detroit in order to take a plane to Boston early the next morning. The flight went well, and I was even able to carry my skates on the plane both to Boston and back to Detroit. That’s always a good feeling for skaters to know, that our skates will arrive when needed! The show was at the same arena on Harvard’s campus where I skated for the Jimmy Fund last fall. The other guest skaters were Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, Scott Smith, Stephen Carriere, and Julia Vlasov and Drew Meekins. I had been at international competitions with each of them this season, so it was nice to be able to spend some time with them again.

I arrived back in Detroit late Sunday evening, and I was off on another flight to Delaware early Monday morning. My coach Julianne Berlin, Jonathan Cassar, and I were helping with a Jackson hinge-boot demonstration and presentation at the University of Delaware. Mark Ladwig and Amamda Evora were also demonstrating, and their coach Kerry Leitch spoke to the audience about the skates. Priscilla Hill was also there with some of her students who use these skates. Personally, I have been very pleased with the hinge-boots, and I would like to continue using them for training and competing. My hope is that this type of boot will help to prevent many of the injuries that skaters seem to acquire over their many years of training. We spent the night in Delaware before returning to Detroit on Tuesday. I actually had a few days to skate in Detroit before my next trip. On Friday, I was off to Toronto again to skate and work a little with my choreographer on new music for my long program. Just before I went there I found out that I was invited to compete at the Japan Open Competition. That meant training my old long program again. (And I thought I only got last minute notice for competitions in the fall!!) This will be a team competition; North America, Japan, and Europe. My team will be Jeffrey Buttle, Joannie Rochette, and Emanuel Sandhu.

This week I have my finals at BGSU. I will not be taking classes this summer, but I plan to work independently on my French in order to take credit by examination for one of the French courses this fall. I will be a junior this fall, and I had a great sophomore year. I received an award for International Studies sophomore of the year, and first year outstanding Russian student award.

I may not have another journal entry for awhile again because on May 7 th I leave home and will not return again until May 30 th. On Sunday I will be skating in the Detroit Champions on Ice show, and that evening I will be driving to Toronto to spend part of the next week there getting my new long program choreographed. On Thursday morning I will fly to Japan to compete my old long program for the Japan Open, and on Monday I will fly to Chicago. In Chicago, I will be skating in the Superstars on Ice show on Tuesday. Thursday through Sunday I will be a guest skater for the ice shows for the Dupage skating club. Last summer I modeled for the Leo’s Dancewear costume catalog, and I will try to meet with them in Chicago also sometime that week to possibly do some modeling again this summer if my schedule allows me to do it.

I really love traveling, but by the end of the month I will need a break from skating, and I am planning to take a week or two off to visit relatives in Wisconsin before returning to Ohio. It will then be June!!!!!(I already have plans to be one of the guest skaters at the Detroit Skating Club show in early June.) Have a great summer everyone, and thanks for visiting my website!

Alissa