support. Glenn is known for her grace and matu- rity on the ice, and Lawrence exudes these quali- ties in her work as well. T ey are both passionate about what they do and have been successful — but still haven’t reached their full potential. And fi nally, they’re both immensely talented and rec- ognized as powerhouses in their chosen fi elds. Lawrence made her big statement at the


85th Academy Awards in 2013, where she won the award for Best Actress. A year later, Glenn stepped on the ice at the 2014 U.S. Champi- onships in Boston in the junior ladies event and stole the show. T e skater from Plano, Texas, won the gold medal, as well as the admiration of many skating fans.


“I was completely ecstatic,” Glenn said. “I had trained that program cleanly every day. To be able to do it when it counted most gave me a sense of accomplishment.” Her success is the result of a solid support


system, a great work ethic and drive to be the best she can be. She started skating when she was 5 years old, after watching Sarah Hughes win the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Unlike many skat- ers who have worked with several coaches over the course of their careers, Glenn has been instructed by the same set of coaches — Ann Brumbaugh and Ben Shroats. T ese partnerships have helped to create the competitor that she is today. When Brumbaugh began working


with


5-year-old Glenn, she realized the skater was ded- icated.


“I was the director of skating in the program


that Amber started classes in,” Brumbaugh said. “Right away, it was clear she had a tremendous amount of talent. She loved to learn anything I would teach her, and I would fi nd myself spend- ing hours instructing her.” Glenn would often work for a long time on a single element, trying to perfect it. “Any task you can give her, she will give 150


percent,” she said. “As a young skater, I would give her a task and hours later she would still be determined to achieve it. She never left the ice without meeting her goal.” Perfectionism is one of Glenn’s main attri-


butes, Shroats said. “Amber demands herself to be perfect all of


the time,” he said. “On one side it’s great because she works so hard to be perfect and won’t quit until she is. It can be a downfall because as we all know, skating is a diffi cult sport and sometimes you aren’t going to be perfect at everything.” T e love for her sport encourages Glenn to


push herself. “T ere is nothing better than the feeling of


improving on an element that you’ve been work- ing on for a while, whether it’s the adrenaline from landing a new jump combination cleanly or rotating faster on a spin,” she said. Glenn is well-known for her athleticism,


particularly her explosive jumps. “I would best describe my skating style


as powerful,” she said. “I like to be strong and fi erce.” Shroats agrees with his student’s assessment. “She is an athletic jumper,” he said. “Some- times she does things in practice that literally


Coaches Ben Shroats and Ann Brumbaugh fl ank their star pupil.


blow my mind. I’ll never forget the day she want- ed to try a triple fl ip-triple toe-triple toe combi- nation for fun and landed it on her second try.” But what separates Glenn from her compet- itors is her unique blend of desire and physical abilities. “She is so passionate about what she’s doing


and if you watch her compete, you can see it in her face and body language,” Shroats said. A sense of personal style can elevate a good


skater to great heights. Glenn realizes how im- portant it is to develop her own brand of skating, and admits that her artistic side is still a work-in- progress.


“I am working on exploring my softer, more


mature side of my skating,” she said. Costume choices play a key part in creating a distinct look on the ice. Designer Denyce Frey has worked with Glenn since she competed on the juvenile level. “T e majority of


skaters bring me their


music and I design a dress — not so with Am- ber,” Frey said. “She likes to be in on the design and fabric choices from the beginning. She has strong ideas as to what the dress should look like, although she is always open to suggestions from her mother, coach and myself.” In addition to the physical and performance


demands, the sport requires mental strength as well. Brumbaugh has seen a transformation in this area of Glenn’s skating. “Amber had juvenile and intermediate sea-


sons where after qualifying for junior nationals, her performances weren’t what she had hoped or worked for all year,” Brumbaugh said. “At one point she told me she wasn’t sure if she believed that she could do it when it mattered most. It broke my heart. “Sometimes the hardest-working athlete can be the one with biggest self-doubt. After experi- encing those struggles, seeing Amber accomplish doing it when it mattered most is the greatest mo- ment I have ever had as a coach.” T is past season was a breakthrough one for


Glenn. “Amber’s competitive mind was the biggest


development of this season,” said Brumbaugh. “She has grown to know she can perform under pressure and learned to trust her training.” Staying mentally sharp is an ongoing pro-


cess, and Glenn’s toughness continues to evolve. “We work every day on controlling negative


Glenn’s perfectionist ways have paid dividends.


thoughts within practice and taking imperfec- tion as a challenge rather than feeling defeated,” Brumbaugh said. Shroats has seen Glenn’s growth as well. “She used to get nervous and worked up at competition time, but she’s matured as a skater and a person. She’s learned to handle the stress and nerves that come with being a top-level skat- er,” Shroats said. “Amber goes to a competition with the plan to throw it down every time; she has learned to go into attack mode when she’s do- ing her program and not hold back.” For the upcoming season, Glenn will grad- uate to the senior level. With the next Olympic cycle starting, she will be among the many new faces on the national and international scene competing for titles and medals — making it feel a little bit like T e Hunger Games, which happens to be one of her favorite movies. As she works toward her ultimate goal of


representing the United States at the Olympics, Glenn knows she will face obstacles along the way. But these uncertainties just may propel her to the top of future podiums, she said. “I have learned to not rely on things that I can’t always control as my motivation,” she said.


SKATING 33


JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING


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