2016 U.S. ADULT CHAMPIONSHIPS
‘Such a passion’
Competitors bring their best to Ann Arbor
by MIMI MCKINNIS Community and camaraderie reigned su-
preme at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube as nearly 400 competitors descended on the Wolverine State for the 22nd U.S. Adult Figure Skating Champion- ships, held April 5–9 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Held annually since 1995, the event took
place in Ann Arbor for the fourth time; having pre- viously been there in 1999, 2002 and 2003. T e Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club’s Ann Dougherty is no stranger to this unique event, serving as chair of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) on all four occasions. “I do this event for the people,” Dougherty,
who also served as U.S. Figure Skating’s vice chair for adult competitions from 2004 to 2009, said. “T e adults have such a passion for being here. To see the supportive atmosphere of this competition is what makes it special. People like our LOC vol- unteers who haven’t experienced the Adult Cham- pionships before are just amazed by the number of tossies thrown onto the ice and the amount of sup- port and encouragement there is, no matter how long you’ve been doing this or what level you are.” By week’s end, more than 100 events had
(l-r) Brandy Lokken, Michael Tongko-Burry, Aziz Asaly, Sarah Almubarak and Chris Faria take a unique selfi e during a break in the action.
“I’m just so proud to be here. Everyone brought
their A game for the premier. Every performance was so good, it was like Worlds.”
— Mary King on the inaugural championship adult silver ladies event.
A beautiful collection of medals awaited the top skaters in each category.
been contested in the three-surface arena, in- cluding the championship adult silver ladies and men’s events, which made their debut at this year’s championships. “It was so exciting to be a part of this fi rst
event,” championship adult silver ladies bronze medalist Mary King said. “I’m just so proud to be here. Everyone brought their A game for the premier. Every performance was so good, it was like Worlds.” In addition to debuting the new events,
the local hosts pulled out all the stops to put on an outstanding competition, even bringing in special-guest awards presenters, including two- time U.S. ladies champion Alissa Czisny (2009, 2011), 2009 U.S. ice dance silver medalist and 2010 Olympian Emily Samuelson, and 1984 Olympic bronze medalist Jozef Sabovcik. “It’s quite inspiring, actually,” Sabovcik said.
“All of these people, they come here for the right reasons. T ey do it because nobody is making them. T ey know how to work hard because they’re doing it for themselves, not for anybody else. T ey just love skating.”
28 JUNE/JULY 2016
PHOTOS BY BY LEXI ROHNER
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