Chrissy Hughes wraps up her skating career in style with a gold- medal eff ort.
Storybook
ending Hughes makes most
of fi nal competition by BRENDA GLIDEWELL
Chrissy Hughes arrived on Cape Cod in
mid-August for her fi rst and only U.S. Collegiate Championships. After a three-year hiatus from fi g- ure skating, Hughes decided last fall to train and compete one fi nal time in the sport that once con- sumed her world. T is return
was signifi cant, as Hughes,
a four-time U.S. Championships competitor (2006‒2009), walked away following the 2009 U.S. Championships to immerse herself in college at Seattle Pacifi c University. With her degree in hand, she felt it was the
perfect time to write the fi nal chapter in her skat- ing career. T e 22-year-old took the ice with 30 senior ladies for the competition hosted by the Yarmouth Ice Club in West Dennis, Mass. When the week- end closed at Toby Kent Arena, Hughes stood proudly on top of the podium. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time out there,”
said Hughes, a resident of Issaquah, Wash. “I did not come here to win, rather I came here to con- clude my life on the ice and compete for me this time. I am so pleased with how I skated and that my coaches, Darin Hosier and Corrie Martin, were here to share this with me.” Martin and Hosier have coached Hughes for
the past 13 years. “I will never forget my fi rst lesson with Chris-
sy as a 9-year-old girl,” Martin said. “When I watched her perform today, I saw the same passion she possessed when she was little; however I now also see a young lady performing who has devel- oped with the utmost integrity, sincerity and depth of character. She has been a true blessing in my life
(l-r) Senior ladies medalists Chrissy Hughes, Kacie Kotnik, Becky Berseswill and Amber Walczyk (l-r) Senior men’s medalists Kevin Coppola and Matthew McAvoy